The Young Goblin King
by BeautyandYue
Summary: Jareth the Goblin King and Sarah the champion of the Labyrinth are brought together again by a wierd twist of fate. Jareth couldn't do much worse by listening to his heart and Sarah could very well lose hers in the process...
1. And I did so enjoy what was said

_ Once upon a time, in a far away magical land, deep underground, a young king lived in a magnificent castle. Although he had everything he wanted, and many subjects, the king was cold, selfish, and unkind. Why? Because one stormy night, a young girl of fifteen came to the castle to take back the child he had stolen. In love with the girl, he offered her the world and a place at his side. The girl, intent on getting her brother back, rejected his offer and won her brother back. Defeated by the girl and ashamed that he had fallen in love with her, the king sulked upon his throne. Out of nowhere, the spirit of the Labyrinth appeared before him. The spirit was the one that actually gave the king his powers over his subjects and kept his kingdom together. She offered him a second chance at getting the girl back. The king, thinking it demeaning to go crawling back to the girl a second time, sneered at the offered gift, and turned it away. Outraged at the king's cold and unfeeling dismissal, the apparition placed a powerful curse on the king and all who lived in the castle. Realizing his error in angering the being that gave him his control, the king tried to apologize, but the damage was done. The spirit told him that over time his magic would slowly fade away, and when he was" beastly" in action or word, his appearance would take on the hideousness of a beastly monster…after a while, the beastly differences would fade away until he looked himself again. However, each time that he changed, it would become harder and harder for him to change back to the way he was, until he would look on the outside what the spirit saw on the inside. _

_The spirit told him that the enchantment was able to be broken. On one condition, if he could learn to love the girl more than himself, and earn her love and respect in return, without forcing it, then the spell would disappear. If not, then the spirit would painfully strip the king of all his powers and the kingdoms he controlled, giving them to a person who was worthy of the title. In addition, the dethroned king would serve the next monarch as a beast servant, remembering nothing. As the next eleven years past, and the cursed king watched the girl grow into a beautiful woman from afar; he became colder and crueler. For who could ever, learn to love, the Goblin King?_

XxXxXxX

"Toby, come back here!" twenty-six year old Sarah called, chasing after the sullen thirteen year old teenager. "What did I do this time?"

The boy-man stopped with his hand on his bedroom doorknob and swung around. "What did you do? Think about what you haven't done! Every time you plan to go on one of your "visits," I'm left behind! I want to go with you this time!" he complained, scowling at his older half sister.

Sarah sighed in exasperation, as she looked her brother over. Where had the giggling little boy gone? She wondered taking in the designer jeans, white American Eagle tee shirt, Nike's, and blue Brewers cap firmly placed on top of his unruly blond curls. In his place was a frowning man-child, wanting to be a man but still too immature to really realize what he was asking Sarah to do.

Toby saw her hesitate and said, "I can't believe you're still afraid of him! You beat him! So could I! All I want to do, Sarah, is visit! Is that really too much to ask?"

Sarah explained as patiently as she could. "Because you don't belong there! Toby, I had to run it to get you back. I can't take you a long; I do not want Jareth to get ideas! So no, you are not going with me, ever!" Sarah said grabbing Toby's arm before he could slam the door in her face, yet again. That is all that their fights really absolved too. Toby yelling at her, Sarah trying to reason with teenage hormones, then Toby stalking off to his room slamming the door in her face. However, this time fate had a different idea to vindicate itself from when Sarah beat it and the Labyrinth eleven years ago.

Toby yanked his arm out of Sarah grip. "Yeah, well you don't belong here, in my life! Go screw around with someone else's!" He sucked in a quivering breath. "I wish the Goblin King would take you away, right now." Toby said disregarding every promise, he had made to Sarah to never say those words.

Sarah stumbled back, clutching at a table edge to keep from falling over, feeling as if Toby sucker punched her right in the gut. "Toby, why?" she breathed, tingling all over.

Toby visibly paled as he realized that the words he had just uttered were completely true. Sarah was not pulling his leg when she told him bad things happened when that phrase was spoken. "Sarah!" Toby called, watching his sister dissipate before his very eyes.

XxXxXxXxX

Sarah landed on a marble floor in an ungraceful heap. Shaking the stars from her head, Sarah opened her eyes and they met with impeccably polished black boots. Tilting her head, Sarah looked the impossibly long length up past a pair of gray trousers, white dress shirt, minus the ruffles from last time, to a face she knew all to well. With high cheek bones, layered blond hair like spun gold, pale skin, and those intense mismatched eyes that had stared at her with such longing last time, now looked at her with scorching anger and something else, Sarah could not quite place.

Jareth's sarcastic voice crashed down on Sarah like a waterfall. "Well, well, well, whatever did the misguided sprite drag in?" he crouched down and picked a strand of Sarah's long dark hair out of her face, to look at her clearly.

"Y-you leave her alone!" a voice wobbled, making the command fall flat.

Jareth glanced up and spotted Toby standing in a corner next to his throne, visibly shaking.

"Ah, is this the little chap you wished away eleven years ago, Sarah?" Jareth smirked and leaned closer. "Did he decide to turn the tables when he was sick of you?" he hissed harshly.

He smoothly got up from his crouched position and moved toward Toby. "Do you think he's capable to run my Labyrinth?" Toby gulped and edged away from the angry Goblin King.

Sarah sat up, pulling her knees beneath her to sit on them. "You leave him the hell alone." she hissed back, eyes narrowed, like a lioness ready to protect her young at any given moment.

"What said is said…" Jareth shrugged nonchalantly and sat down in his throne, throwing one leg over the arm of the chair. He tilted his head, a razor edged smirk flashing across his thin face, and looked again at Toby, eyes hard. "And I did so enjoy what was said." He finished voice remorseless.

Toby scooted over to Sarah and helped her to a standing position. "Sarah, I didn't mean it. Honest, I thought you just told me those words were forbidden to scare me into doing what you wanted." Glancing over to Jareth, Sarah noticed that the Goblin was paying no attention to them.

Sarah hushed him. "It's alright Toby, I know you didn't mean it. Nevertheless, remember when I said that sometimes saying things without thinking had repercussions? Well, this is what I was talking about." She hugged him.

"What does he mean? Running his Labyrinth?" Toby questioned.

Sarah shook her head, "You are not going to do that, not if I can help it. You stay quiet and let me do the talking okay?" Toby nodded.

"Don't make him run the Labyrinth." Sarah pleaded, hoping some of that fascination Jareth had had with her last time was still lingering.

Her hopes were dashed when Jareth swung to lean back in his throne, clasping his gloved hands over his slim stomach, said snidely, "Or what? You stay with me forever? Even you, Sarah, I think, do not have the gall to stay as my prisoner. Besides, you cannot run the Labyrinth for him. Only the one that wished you away can run to get you back."

"If Toby doesn't have to run the Labyrinth…" Sarah hesitated then pushed on, "Then, yes, I'll stay. Willingly." She wrapped her arms around Toby who stood in front of her, to give her courage to say that she would give up her freedom for Toby's.

Silence reined as Jareth sat bolt up right and stared at the woman before him, chin out, eyes scared but willing to do anything for the brother she loved. Jareth mulled over it a minute before scoffing loudly and pushed himself out of his throne to pace before the pair. "You! Like I would bend that rule just for you, then everyone with a sob story would try that with me." A quick couple of steps brought Jareth back in front of Sarah and Toby. His eyes glinted dangerously. "Suppose I would bend the rule, and send him back without making him run the Labyrinth, you would take his place? You realize that this would be forever."

Sarah sighed, knowing she was throwing everything away, straightening her back, she replied calmly. "Yes." Eyes firm in her decision.

Toby, comprehending what Sarah was going to do for him, twisted around out of her arms to look at her and exclaimed, "Sarah, that's not fair!"

"I do so detest that phrase." Jareth glowered at the youth, making Sarah push Toby behind her.

Sarah gave a glared at Jareth herself then spun around to look Toby in the eyes to try to make him understand why she was doing this. "I have to sweetling, I can't have you run the Labyrinth because god knows what HE has done to it since I beat him." Sarah jerked a thumb over her shoulder at the glowering King. "Besides," she rushed on, sensing Toby's impending outburst. "Karen would have my head if I put you in any kind of danger. Just let me go okay? I'm sure after a while you-know-who might let me come visit."

"Unlikely." Said aforementioned Goblin King, very put out that Sarah was blatantly ignoring him.

"Don't listen to him." Sarah hugged him one last time. "Be good okay? Come up with something good to make Dad and Karen believe that I've gone off somewhere not the Goblin King's prisoner, otherwise they might think I might have gone crazy and killed myself or something stupid like that."

"You should have saved them the trouble years ago." Jareth mumbled under his breath.

Sarah spun around at that. "You stay out of this!"

Jareth replied, "I have every reason to be in on this conversation since it was your immature brother that wished you here in the first place!" He was not liking the backtalk at all. He tapped his foot impatiently on the floor. "Have we decided then? For you to, really, truly, stay?"

"Yes! God, what do I have to do? Sign my name in blood?" Sarah snapped, eyes flashing.

Jareth leaned forward so suddenly that his and Sarah's noses almost touched. "That could be arranged." He hissed. Sarah, suddenly aware that his front canine teeth were oddly longer than normal and very sharp looking; and, when she glared back at him, Jareth's eyes were feral looking. She also noticed that Jareth had sideburns when there had not been any sideburns at the beginning of this whole discussion and his hair seemed to bush out like an angered cat's tail.

Jareth seemed to read something in her eyes and he stepped back, closing his eyes and inhaling deeply. Upon opening them again, Jareth spoke in a more controlled voice. "Then it is settled. The boy will return home and you will stay here indefinitely." Sarah nodded and Toby sniffled loudly, trying not to cry.

Jareth nodded sharply in return and snapping his fingers Toby began to disappear immediately.

"Hey! You're, Hey!" Sarah sputtered as Toby called out a tearful,

"Sarah!"

Then he was gone and Sarah and Jareth were the only two in the throne room. Sarah glared Jareth, to angry for words. Jareth ignored her, walking away from her and summoning a crystal, he spoke into it. "Hogwart," he spoke tersely, "we have a new and permanent resident to the Labyrinth and my castle. Come, collect her, and take her to her new room. Now." Jareth commanded coldly when the crotchety old dwarf tried to argue, and tossed the crystal away.

Jareth then glanced at Sarah, who by that time had bowed her head and her dark hair fell like a satin curtain around her face, shielding it from view. Barely resisting the urge to run his hands through her hair to actually see if it felt as soft as it looked, Jareth looked the young woman over carefully for the first time since she had landed unannounced, in a heap, on his throne room floor.

Her hair was long to her waist; she was slim and curved in just the places Jareth liked in a woman. She wore what Aboveground people called jeans, a dress shirt the color of roses, and the scent coming off of her skin smelled like juniper, violets, sun kissed berries, and mandarins. It suited her, Jareth conceded, and was irked to find that he liked her just as well, maybe even more, than the last time she had been in his presence.

Literally, as Sarah had swept Jareth off his high horse with her passion, loyalty, and sheer stubbornness, just as she breezed through his game, going onto win it, claiming the heart of the Goblin King as her prize. If anything, her allure was more irresistible, as she had grown up in those eleven years and was all woman now. Jareth quickly squashed any warm feelings reemerging, telling himself. _'I am supposed to despise the woman, not fall more in love with her because she appeared again in my life after eleven years!' _After placing the Goblin King mask firmly on his face did Jareth dare to talk to her again.

Jareth walked back over to Sarah, boots quiet on the tan colored marble. "I will now lay out the ground rules for your new home." Jareth informed her.

From behind the mahogany curtain, a very unladylike snort sounded. Jareth ignored the sound. "You are permitted to go to the Goblin City or around the castle, accompanied of course by one of my servants. You may go anywhere you like, except my chambers, those are expressly off limits to everyone." Sarah muttered low under her breath. However, Jareth's excellent hearing still caught the words. He grabbed the hair at the nape of Sarah's neck and pulled harshly down, tilting Sarah's face to look at him. She whimpered at the pain of pulled hairs. Jareth leaned closer and Sarah was slightly afraid but oddly hopeful that he might kiss her; he was so close. His eyes dropped down to look at her ruby lips, slightly parted in surprise, and then flickered back to her eyes.

"IF, if you would have the sudden urge to visit my chambers," Jareth smiled showing more teeth than necessary, it was costing him dearly to not crush Sarah's inviting lips to his. He looked at her luscious lips parted in surprise, her breath coming out in heated huffs, then yanking his eyes back to her own fearful ones, and continued, "It would be in your own personal interest to never go there unless you have a death wish."

Sarah shivered openly as the temperature dropped ten degrees. "You great bully." She informed him coldly.

Jareth arched an eyebrow at her, letting go of her hair, and shrugging, he went back to his throne and sat down, reclining lazily as if nothing had happened. "You will join me for dinner at seven o'clock tonight." He informed her.

Sarah decided to be stubborn. "I'm not hungry." She stated, like a sulky child.

Jareth sprang off his throne and was in front of Sarah so fast; she had no time to blink. "You will join me for dinner. That was not a request! As my prisoner, I do have power over you now. So you will do as I say!" He was so angry at her lack of respect; Jareth could literally feel the anger radiating off his body.

What Sarah did then was so stupid, so childish, that in later years, she still shook her head at the thought that Jareth could have been struck her down right then and there. However, what he did instead surprised them both.

Sarah stuck her tongue out at Jareth.

Quick as lightening, Jareth's hand snaked out and caught her tongue between his gloved thumb and middle finger. Sarah squeaked in surprise, eyes wide. Jareth stared at Sarah a moment, surprised at what he had done too. "You are now my subject, albeit a reluctant one, but a subject nonetheless. You will treat me as your rightful king. I do not stand for this kind of disrespect from my goblins and I will not stand for it from you. Or I will drop you into the deepest, darkest Oubliette I can find." He spoke softly, dangerously. "Do I make myself clear?"

A frantic nod punctuated that Jareth had made his point. With a sigh, he let go of Sarah's tongue. Sarah clapped a hand across her mouth, afraid that anything else that came out of her mouth might set Jareth off again.

Jareth dropped back into his throne with a tired sigh, and lounging across it, he placed a hand over his eyes. The only sounds in the room were the soft ticks from the clock in the corner that had thirteen hours on its face. A soft knock on the door made Sarah jump. The door creaked open and a worn face lined with wrinkles peered around the edge of the door. "Sire?" Hoggle inquired after a moment, as Jareth was silent.

Jareth sighed again, waving his hand nonchalantly, and not even glancing at Sarah, said, "Hogbrain, take her away from me to her room. I don't even care what room it is. Just get her out of my sight."

Sarah was concerned when the old dwarf nodded obediently and did not even protest at the mispronunciation of his name. "Come along miss." Hoggle said bowing low to let Sarah pass by him first. Sarah went out, quiet for the first time since she abruptly fell into Jareth's realm. Hoggle bowed again and closed the door quietly behind them.

Jareth placed his hand over his mouth, and looked out a window directly across from his throne. Inhaling deeply through his nose, Jareth took his hand away and felt gingerly around his pointed teeth with his tongue. _'Why does she infuriate me so?'_ Jareth wondered _'Yet at the same time she excites me with just a look.'_

As he was just calming down enough to be able to be presentable, his breath hitched at the image of Sarah sticking her tongue out at him. Jareth still could not believe she had done something so childishly stupid. _'She gave me all the reasons why I should have carried out my threat of dropping her in the deepest Oubliette I could find, and yet, I still gave her a warning. Most of my goblins don't even get a warning. '_ He had almost lost control then when she had refused to dine with him. Upon seeing the fear in Sarah's eyes, did he see the affects of the curse upon the one person he needed to break the spell.

Jareth was lost in thought, thinking about something else when Sarah's image was again thrust before his eyes. _'What do you want me to do?'_ Jareth howled silently to the ceiling. He know realized that the Labyrinth spirit was the one placing Sarah's image before him, so that his mind could not be released from the subject. So while Sarah was in front of him in his mind's eye, Jareth studied her. Long dark hair, dressed in jeans, dress shirt, and tennis shoes; defiant emerald eyes glared at him from a pale face while she tried to barter with him for her brother.

'_Still, she gave herself up for Toby yet again.'_ Jareth noticed now, rather than at the time, that Sarah had acquired a tightly controlled wall around her heart that perhaps came from running the Labyrinth or, Jareth mused, it came from being burned in love herself. Whatever the case maybe, Sarah had learned cool control, except when she was around him. All her control seemed to fly out the window then. _'Then again, I lost the control I've kept quite tightly over myself these past years, when she was in my presence.'_ Jareth thought, brow wrinkling in concentration.

Then the image whisked away and Jareth heard Sarah say quite boldly and coolly, "You great bully."

"I am not a bully." Jareth stated through clenched teeth, sounding like a sulky child. He groaned suddenly and throwing his arm over his eyes, Jareth slunk down in his chair, head hanging over the armrest.

Then a quiet "Damn her." floated around in the empty room.

_To Be Continued…_


	2. Seiroooo

**As always, I do not own Labyrinth nor the other things in this story, just the plot as I place things as I see fit.**

* * *

_**Last Chapter…** **Jareth heard Sarah say quite boldly and coolly, "You great bully."**_

_**"I am not a bully." Jareth stated through clenched teeth, sounding like a sulky child. He groaned suddenly and throwing his arm over his eyes, Jareth slunk down in his chair, head hanging over the armrest.** _

**_Then a quiet "Damn her." floated around in the empty room._**

* * *

A silent Hoggle led Sarah down a flight of stairs, around several corners, and through a number of hallways. Therefore, by the time Hoggle stopped in front of a dark oak door, Sarah almost bumping into him, she was thoroughly turned around. Hoggle opened the door to a dark room beyond. A chilly draft crept curiously out the open door, exploring its new surroundings and Sarah shivered. Hoggle motioned her to precede him into the room.

Sarah stepped through the doorway into what was to be her new room. At first, it was dark and cold. Then, as Sarah watched with amazement, the room slowly lit from a fireplace by the windows and the lovely hanging chandelier until it was the exact lighting Sarah liked in her room. While this was going on, a breeze opened the elegant French windows to a small balcony overlooking a quaint garden. The same breeze brought the smells of flowers and strawberries back into the room, banishing the musty odor, ruffling Sarah's loose locks into her eyes. Brushing them out of her face, Sarah blinked and then gasped in disbelief as the once stark white walls, bed, and bathroom where now bathed in all of her favorite colors.

The walls were a mosaic of thousands of flat blue stones, with colors ranging from aquamarine to teal to sapphire. Sarah had no idea what these stones might be for they were opaque but gleamed like mother of pearl. She glanced at her feet and noticed that a set path of dark green stones formed a trail from the door to the balcony, the bathroom, and the bed. Sarah followed where her feet took her and they led her around the room, past the queen-sized bed, at which Sarah had a unkind thought that Jareth probably had the biggest bed, a king-sized and everyone else's was a size or so smaller. 'He probably has all the beds in the kingdom smaller than his, for he's the king and he always gets what he wants! Still,' she reflected suddenly realizing she sounded like a sulky child, 'the bed is definitely bigger than my old one.' Sarah ran a hand over the soft, goose down comforter. The comforter was a peacock blue and embroidered in silver metallic thread, was the outline of the peacock itself with the comforter as its feathers. Four pillars stood at the bottom of the small platform that the bed rested, and light blue gauze hung over the bed and down to encircle the bed, giving privacy.

Sarah passed by the open windows and noted that small torches lighted the garden. Then past several sapphire blue armchairs arranged around the small cozy fire burning in the decent sized fireplace. On the walls were tapestries weaved in various colors and depicting, what Sarah guessed, was the Labyrinth history. If Sarah had looked hard enough at one of those tapestries, she might have seen a golden haired man sitting dejectedly on a throne and a tall blond woman in white robes before him, holding out an hourglass beseechingly to him. She saw a wardrobe, vanity, and full-length mirror next to the door and then Sarah reached the bathroom. Here the room was tiled with pale pinks ranging from mother of pearl tinted with the palest of pinks to a creamy pink color. The bath itself was sunk deep into the floor, and as big as a millpond. Sarah came out of the bathroom, sighed at the room that was to be hers and found, to her horror, her eyes filling with tears. She headed to the balcony and stood, eyes closed, breathing in the warm air. When she felt composed enough, as she felt Hoggle's presence behind her; Sarah turned, opening her eyes to look at the dwarf.

Hoggle shifted a little, "I's am glad you are here Sarah, the castle be your home now, even if it be under bad circumstances."

Sarah crouched down to look Hoggle in the eye. "Hoggle, why is Jareth holding me here instead of sending me to a home in the City? There's something wrong here, isn't there?"

Hoggle shifted his eyes. "After ye left, Jareth did something, something very foolish. But the foolish thing only damned him and only him."

Sarah nodded, "I thought so. He seemed…" she tried thinking of the word. "Edgier? More prone to anger, rather than Jareth being his smirky self? "

Hoggle nodded "That's 'bout right I guess. Well as close as you'll ever get to the answer, if I have anything to say about It." he muttered as an after thought. He motioned Sarah to follow him out of the room and down the hall. "I's just warning ya that sometimes nowadays that its better to not be scrappin' with Jareth on certain things, like refusing to go to dinner."

Sarah opened her mouth to question the old dwarf some more, when Hoggle opened a door and said into the room. "Look who I found!" jabbing a stubby thumb over his shoulder at Sarah.

"Sarwah!"

"My Lady!"

Came the excited cries from a big orange beast and an old knight. "Ludo, oh, Sir Didyimis!" Sarah cried in joy, completely forgetting the recent conversation. Racing to them, she gave each a hug. Well with Ludo, it was more like him squeezing the breath out of her, but Sarah didn't care.

Several minutes later, when everyone had calmed down a little, "My Lady, what are you doing here? I thought that you were not due for another visit till next week."

Sarah sighed. "My brother had other plans, I'm afraid." Her eyes filled with unexpected tears and she ducked her head to hide them.

Ludo placed his huge ham sized hand on Sarah's shoulder and rumbled softly to comfort her. Sarah sniffed and smiled up at the beast. Sir Didyimis looked puzzled. "Sir Tobias? Why, I haven't seen the little chap in years! How is thy brother?"

Sarah wiped her eyes. "Well he's not quite so little anymore and he's the reason why I'm here early."

"My Lady! He did not?" Sir Didyimis sounded horrified. "Did thy brother use the forbidden words?"

"He did." Came Sarah's glum reply.

"No! Is he here now? Please, Lady Sarah, tell me that he is not running the Labyrinth! He cannot!" Sir Didyimis looked almost panicked.

"He's not. I made a deal with Jareth that if Toby didn't have to run the Labyrinth. I would stay here forever." Sarah explained.

She sat down in an armchair in the parlor type room. It was decorated in hues of brown and cream colors. Sarah suspected that all the castle's rooms were decorated differently, each with its own color scheme, furniture, and style. The group had fallen silent, as Sarah had taken in the room, so she took this opportunity to contemplate her friends. Hoggle, his face lined with wrinkles, had acquired more lines in his aged face in the last eleven years. Sir Didyimis, muzzle turned gray; his own steed Ambrosious, quite white around the mouth. Even gentle, child-like Ludo wasn't left untouched by the fingers of time; in many places all over his body his deep orange fur lightening to a pale carroty color.

Sarah realized that her permanent stay in the Labyrinth wouldn't be so bad if her friends were here with her. They sat and talked about things going on in their lives. Things that had happened while she had been away, Mrs. Such-and-such finally had had her baby. Both were doing well.

While the group gabbed and gossiped, one of Jareth's crystals rolled around the corner of the door and bumped into Sarah's foot to get her attention. Ignoring what Sarah knew was a summons to dinner, she continued talking. Finally, the frantic movement of the crystal caught the attention of her friends. "Aren't ya going to gets that Sarah?" Hoggle questioned, pointing.

"No," Sarah replied simply to the horror of her friends. "If he wants to summon me, he can send a person, or better yet, he can come himself so I can tell him that I'm not hungry." While the others watched aghast, Sarah reached down and plucked the crystal from the ground. "I said, I'm not hungry."

Jareth's arrogant voice, spat out from the crystal, "You can't keep ignoring me!"

"Yes I can!" Sarah shot back and dropped the crystal. It shattered upon impact, the shards melting away to nothing.

"No! Sarah, what have you done?" Hoggle groaned as loud cry of rage filled the castle then abruptly cut off in a strangled, eerie moan.

The sounds of the busy castle died away at the sound of the groan until not a sound was heard, anywhere. "Sarwah danger, hide." Ludo rumbled quietly.

Sarah whipped her head around to look at Ludo, eyes wide. Hoggle grabbed Sarah's arm and dragged her from the room, the others following quickly behind, down the hall, passing many doors. "Hoggle, what-Hoggle!" Sarah sputtered.

"Shut up. Ya have no idea what yea have just done." Hoggle informed her brusquely, leading Sarah through several twisting hallways and several connecting rooms. Sarah snapped her mouth shut as Hoggle had never, _never_ spoken to her like that before.

Cold tendrils of fear wafted down the hall and tapped Sarah on the cheek as the group came to a halt. Sounds of shattering, tearing, and ripping of things drifted to the group; it seemed to Sarah that the noises were closer each passing moment. Apparently, it seemed so to Hoggle as well. He stopped at a heavy looking door, and with Ludo's help dragged it open. "Quickly, quickly." He muttered ushering everyone inside, then muscling the door closed himself, Hoggle locked it. "Not that'll keep 'im out if _He_ wants in." Hoggle said cynically to himself, ear to the door.

"Hoggle, what's-" Sarah began but was cut off by Sir Didyimis' urgent, "_Please_ be quiet Lady Sarah."

Shocked that even the stalwart Sir Didyimis sounded a little panicked, Sarah held her tongue and suffered in silence. The room itself was in disuse. It was small, dark, musty, and stuffy from the heat of an afternoon long gone. Sarah had her back pressed against the door and Hoggle still had his ear to the wood. Sarah could feel Ludo's bulk pressured against her drawn up knees and she guessed that Sir Didyimis was somewhere across from her. A moment passed, then two, just when Sarah couldn't wait anymore, and was about ready to strangle some answers out of a certain dwarf, she heard it.

Sarah could tell by the sudden tension in the room, that the others had heard it too. A slow shuffling drag accompanied by a low snuffling sound made its way down the hall vacated seconds before. That eerie moan floated through the door, making the hairs on the back of Sarah's neck prickle in sudden alarm. Adjusted to the dark now, Sarah glanced at the others faces, eyes wide with fright. Sir Didyimis and Hoggle stood stiff, barely breathing. Ludo, Sarah could feel, was trembling in fear. Ludo caught her eye and brought a stubby finger to his lips. Sarah patted Ludo, to show that she was with him.

The shuffling sound stopped right outside the very room they hid. Sarah pressed harder on the door in apprehension at a dreadfully audible sniffing along the crack where the door met the floor. "_Sierooooo…_" came the groan and then the shuffling started again, past the room, down the hall and back to silence once more.

They waited about five more minutes. Then Hoggle opened the door a crack and peered around it, checking the hallway. "Is it safe, brother Hoggle?" Sir Didyimis questioned.

"Me thinks so." Hoggle said, cautiously opening the door the rest of the way and walking out of the room. He looked up and down the corridor and nodded his head ok. "Fer now, at least." Hoggle admitted. The rest of them emerged from the room dusty, sweaty, and squinting in the sudden bright of the soft-lighted crystals embedded in the walls.

Hoggle knelt and examined some deep scratches in the marble. Sarah knelt with him. The cuts were two inches deep and dragged from one end of the hall to the other. "With the way he's going right now, we're more screwed than I's originally was told." Hoggle commented to the others.

Sarah got up and followed Hoggle as he went in the direction that they had come from. "Hoggle, wait, Hoggle!" Sarah cried finally catching his attention. Placing her hands on her hips, she asked, "Hoggle, what, what the _hell_ was that?" Sarah pointed a finger down the passageway they had just came down. Hoggle just frowned at her and continued.

Sarah glanced at the others. "Sir Didyimis?" she questioned.

He sighed and said, "That, my Lady is our newest and most dangerously violent citizen of the Labyrinth. He appears whenever and wherever he feels like in the Labyrinth. Just don't come across him if you don't haveta."

"And the almighty Jareth can't do anything to cage this, this thing?" Sarah squawked.

Hoggle rounded on her, "Because Jareth can't do a damned thing about it, since its-!" He snapped his mouth shut and shook his head. "I's won't say anymore."

Sarah sighed; feeling as if she had almost gotten Hoggle to spill some little dirty secret on Jareth, but the dwarf had caught on and had sealed his lips. "Alright Hoggle, alright. I won't ask about it anymore…for now." Sarah added.

Ambrosious woofed in aggravation and Hoggle said, "I couldn't agree with you more, mutt."

Sarah decided to change the subject before she pushed too hard. "So, head gardener, do you know the way to that small garden beneath my balcony?"

Hoggle beamed, glad to have the subject dropped, and puffed up. "Follow me." He said, waving a hand.

_To Be Continued…_


	3. Sh'mai

**_This is dedicated to one of my best friends in the whole world. Jena this is for you! Here its all explained about the mysterious new Labyrinth "citizen". I'm glad I kept you all guessing! But really if you all look in the prologue then the "citizen" would be easily explained. But now let's get on to the chapter you all have been eagerly waiting for!_**

**Sarah decided to change the subject before she pushed too hard. "So, head gardener, do you know the way to that small garden beneath my balcony?" **

**Hoggle beamed, glad to have the subject dropped, and puffed up. "Follow me." He said, waving a hand.**

* * *

Hoggle led Sarah the rest of the way down the hallway to a door that led outside. Opening the door, he bowed elegantly and let Sarah go before him. Sarah stopped dead in her tracks, gasping in delight, her hand reached up to cover her gaping mouth. Hoggle gently pushed the astonished woman out the way to let the others file past her into the garden. "I thoughts you might like to see my garden." Hoggle said proudly. "I made the wholes thing. Jareth commanded me to do it. But it be alright how it turned outs."

Sarah walked slowly into the small clearing. "You did this?" Sarah asked voice soft, as she turned to view the whole thing. Little torches with small flames of alternating blue and orange flame lit the clearing Sarah stood in with a soft light, illuminating small paths that disappeared from the glen into the dark twilight beyond. Scents of roses, tulips, baby's breath, lavender, violets, honeysuckle, and many other flowers Sarah couldn't name wafted on the gentle breeze. Sarah walked around the clearing, noting the care that had been put into placing each flower just so.

Sarah noticed that the Undergrounds twin moons, Luna and Artimis, were just coming out. What Sarah knew of the moons was that while one was waning the other was waxing. She knelt by a cluster of flowers just beginning to open, and touched their milky white petals with a gentle finger, marveling in their silky texture.

"What's this flower?" Sarah asked looking back at Hoggle.

He puffed up, "Thems _Aranthi_, Moondust flowers. They be Jareth's favorite flowers in the whole Underground."

She breathed in their heady scent thinking they smelled like wild honey. "How pretty." Sarah murmured, thinking that such pretty flowers somehow fit Jareth. They seemed to open only at night, and Jareth, able to change to that of an owl, was perhaps more active at night? The pale white of the flowers matched his own pale skin, and the silky petals must be how his hair feels. Sarah surmised. Possibly, he also smelled like wild honey. She blushed, shaking her head at such thoughts. "Why are they called Moondust?" Sarah said, thankful that the night hid her red cheeks. "Because they open at night?"

Hoggle stood, watching the sky. "Nope, watch."

Just then, Luna and Artimis broke through the small scattering of clouds in the sky and bathed the entire area in gentle light. A particular bit of moonlight struck the flower Sarah was looking at. Sarah gasped in awe. It was as if thousands of diamonds were imbedded in the petals of the flowers, they glittered so. Now Sarah understood why it was Jareth's favorite flower. They were every bit as flashy as he was, but you had to see Jareth to understand the beauty he found in the flower. "See? Moondust." Hoggle repeated smugly.

"May I?" Sarah queried pointing at several of the Moondust blossoms.

"Of course Sarah. Ya may come heres as often as ya likes. This is your garden." Hoggle said as she gathered some of the glittering flowers.

Sarah turned toward him, arms holding a small bouquet of Moondust flowers. "My garden? I don't think so Hoggle, it's your garden, you made it."

Hoggle shook his head. "I's haven't told you the name of this garden. It's _Sh'mai_."

"What? I don't understand." Sarah said, confused.

"I am sorry my lady. It's Elven. All of the Underground speaks it. Brother Hoggle, Ludo, Jareth, and even I speak it. We speak your language because we were gifted with the knowledge of it. In time you will be able to speak it as well." Sir Didyimis explained as they headed back towards her room.

"Yes, but what does it mean? Why does Hoggle say that the garden is mine?" Sarah persisted, stuffing the completely new language bit back for another day. She opened her door and ushered them inside.

Hoggle's ears turned pink. As Sir Didyimis translated, "It means Beloved of my soul." He trailed off as Sarah turned pale and sat down hard on the edge of the bed.

"Sarah? Sarah?" Hoggle questioned, hurrying over to the woman.

"How long" Sarah stopped and started again. "How long ago did you make that garden?"

Hoggle furrowed his brow. "Let's see I mades it about…eleven years ago…I had just finished its right before ya wished away your brother…after ya beat him, he, he flew into a rage and destroyed all the flowers. But in the morning as the _Glora_, that be the sun in Elven, touched the castle with its first bits of light, every mangled flower burst into bloom." He shook his head. "They've stayed in bloom all these years, and Jareth hasn't stepped foot into this garden since the night ya beats him at his own game."

"Lady Sarah?" Sir Didyimis inquired, as Ludo peered into her face.

Sarah nodded her head slowly. "I'm alright, it's just a surprise to me. I think I'm going to turn in, the day has just caught up with me." She lied.

Hoggle and the others seemed quieted by her answer and left soon thereafter, but made her promise to not go anywhere without at least telling one of them, and especially not go back out into the castle after dark. Sarah promised but crossed her fingers behind her back.

* * *

Sarah stepped out of her bathroom, towel wrapped around her head and body. She walked up to the wardrobe and pulled open the doors. Her gaze met with several choices in sleepwear. It seemed that the wardrobe changed clothing with the time of day. Sarah picked out a light pink Chemise. She slipped the towel off her body and pulled the thin garment on. Walking over to her vanity, Sarah pulled off the towel around her head and let the damp tresses fall over her shoulders in a wild mess of curls.

While Sarah's hair had been straight as a stick when she was younger, as she had gotten older, her locks were deciding to defy gravity and curl wherever. So anytime that it had gotten damp or wet in the past years, from either rain or humidity, her hair liked to fight through the straightening creams and conditioners Sarah put in each morning to get her unruly locks to behave.

She picked up a comb and began to run it through her hair, working out the snarls. After Sarah had gotten the knots out, she quickly separated the still damp strands into three cords of hair and proceeded to braid it, tying it off with a bright red ribbon at the end. Shaking the slightly heavy braid over her shoulders, Sarah made her way over to her bed and climbed in, sliding with a grateful sigh in between the silky soft sheets. The lights dimmed and before she knew it, Sarah was asleep.

* * *

Several hours later Sarah woke up. Her body was tense and her mind alert. She still felt like she needed a little more sleep and turned over to try to sleep again. Nevertheless, as sleep had come so easily before, now it just as easily evaded her. Sighing, she got up and slipped on the short robe hanging on a hook beside her bed.

Curiosity overtook Sarah and she pulled open her door and peered into the inky blackness of the hall. Shivering from fear or cold, Sarah couldn't tell as she hastily lit a candle on the bedside table and carried it in front of her as she slipped out the door.

Sarah wondered around the castle, jumping at every noise and nearly screaming when the figure of a drunken goblin lay snoring in the hallway not far from the kitchens. She was drawn however to a door not far from her own room. Placing a hand on the wood, Sarah had the sudden clarity that this was Jareth's room, and he was not in the room. How she knew that, she did not know but what Sarah did know was that if she even entered that room, Jareth could very well kill her if he caught her.

'Well he won't catch me then.' She thought and pushed the door open. Sarah slipped through the door and closed it quietly behind her. She turned around and looked. A bed on a raised dais was neatly made with a comforter of white and silver. On the far side of the huge room, a door opened into what looked like a study with wall to wall books, scrolls, and important looking documents strewn around the room. A huge window stood next to the bed. While Jareth didn't have a balcony like her room did, Sarah could see that he had a fantastic view of the Labyrinth and the Goblin City below, and he could see it all by sitting on the large window seat covered in blue fabric and plenty of cushions. Another door opened to a large bathroom tiled in red colors from the bold red of the cardinal to the dark red of the ruby. Overall, the room was lavishly furnished but there was no personality in the room. Jareth probably slept here if ever, but nothing more.

Sarah picked up a mirror from the vanity in the bathroom, looking at her own pale face in the mirror. It hit her suddenly, making her drop the mirror on the floor, it shattered, the sound loud in the otherwise silent room. 'I shouldn't be in here! I shouldn't be in here!' Sarah thought frantically. She spun around, making for the door. However, a sound outside the bedroom door made her stop short. Sarah quickly opened the bathroom door a crack and peered anxiously into the outer bedroom.

The door to the bedroom opened slowly, and the draft from the hall made the candle Sarah had set down on Jareth's bedside table flicker and then extinguish. A dark and huge shape gradually made its way across the room to the bed. Large nails slid along the ground in a loud, sickening scrape. Sarah could hear the creature groaning and muttering to itself. Was it talking to itself in Elven? Sarah strained to hear even though she couldn't understand one word of it. _"Amin, Ashan'rai…Nish…Estai…Sairooo…"_

Reaching up, it grasped one of the four bedposts with its paws so hard Sarah could hear the cracking of wood from where she stood. It levered itself up and Sarah could see that it was easily seven feet tall, with large, dark horns protruding out of either side of its head, and Sarah could see that it was covered from head to toe in golden fur, that sparkled as the moonlight danced across its body from the open window. It leaned against the post, head down, fur rippling as it took in deep breaths, paws still tight around post as if it were an anchor holding it to its shredded mind.

It shuddered once, twice, and a third time. Sarah watched this all with wide eyes as deadly, sharp nails contracting as paws reverted to pale human hands with shreds of black fabric around them. The fur began to shrink, revealing pale skin, a toned body covered in shredded clothing, a face with high-sculpted cheekbones, and a mop of unruly-layered blond hair. Jareth gasped and sputtered, pushing off the post he stumbled his way over to the window, falling onto the seat, his knees hitting the marble floor with a thud. Jareth dragged himself up and onto the seat with a groan. He lay back and closed his eyes, flicking his wrist; Jareth was once again dressed in dark trousers, a white shirt, and his tattered gloves replaced with fresh ones. Then to all appearances, Jareth fell asleep.

Sarah, frightened out of her mind, backed up silently and quickly in an attempt to find another way out of the bathroom before he woke up. She accidentally stepped onto the mirror she had dropped before, and the crack of the glass against her foot sounded like a gunshot in the quiet room and to Sarah's ears. She froze.

Jareth shot up, eyes alert, with great, dark circles underneath, stark against his pale skin. _"Ya naa eller?" _he commanded in Elven, thinking it to be a goblin, summoning a crystal. He turned his head toward the panicked breathing in the bathroom. _"Sii'." _He spat and threw the crystal with all his strength at the door, shattering it into a thousand pieces.

The blast lifted Sarah up and into the large bathtub in the middle of the floor, showering her with large and small pieces of wood. One piece in particular, sliced open her cheek. Sarah lay there a moment, slightly stunned. Jareth pushed himself up and made his way to the destroyed doorway, a lighted crystal in his out stretched palm. He stopped short, eyes furious. "What are you doing here?" Jareth barked. Sarah stirred and pushed against the wood. He noted coolly that she had been injured and now a deep cut underneath her left eye bled freely down her cheek and onto the nightgown she wore. "I told you upon the pain of death to never come here!" he yelled, making Sarah cringe back in fear.

Jareth clutched the doorway, his skin rippling, and claws emerging from his gloves, ripping them to shreds. "I didn't mean t-s-stop Jareth you're scaring me." Sarah squeaked out as Jareth picked up a piece of wood and easily crushed it.

"Am I scaring you?" Jareth said nochalantly. He looked at his claw growing hand, then back at Sarah with a grin full of sharp teeth. He growled low in his throat. "You should be."

Jareth pushed off from the doorway, still shuddering, growing taller as he walked toward the quaking woman. A crystal began to grow in his hand, "I warned _lle _never _a' _come _sinome_!" He was so angry that he didn't realize that he was speaking in Elven to Sarah. Jareth lifted his arm, Sarah screamed in fear and covered her head. A bright blue light engulfed her, leaving Jareth to blink rapidly at the now empty spot Sarah had sat in only seconds ago. The crystal slipped from his large paw break harmlessly on the ground. The sound of breaking glass snapped Jareth out of his trance and lurched forward, catching the doorway before he fell.

Jareth turned and stumbled out of the bathroom. He reached the post he had used only minutes ago, and grabbed it for stability. It seemed that every time Jareth changed back to his normal self, the transformation itself drained him, physically and magically. Jareth gritted his teeth against the pain of reverting to his normal form. Once he was at least looking half ways normal, did Jareth summon a crystal. "Show me the _edainme_." Jareth commanded. Jareth turned and slid the length of the post to sit on the cold marble floor. The crystal flared a bright white and Jareth saw where Sarah had been taken. _"Amonta de' Toya!"_ he cursed throwing away the crystal and summoned another one. Jareth used the bedpost to return to an upright position. _"Neuma sambe."_ He said into the crystal and dropped it, disappearing in a flash of white light and silver glitter.

_To Be Continued…_

* * *

**Translation of Elven:**

**Amin: I Ashan'rai: Son of the High King**

**Nish: ****Indicating off, or strayed. May indicate "far from"**

**Estai: Wrath, Anger**

**Ya naa eller: Who is There?**

**Sii': Now**

**Lle: You**

**A': To**

**Sinome: Here**

**Edainme: Woman**

**Amonta de' Toya: God(dess) Damn It!**

**Neuma: Trap**

**Sambe: Room**

* * *


	4. Please

**Ok, I am changing the rating of M after this chapter just to be on the safe side. Read and review.**

* * *

_"Am I scaring you? You should be." Jareth pushed off from the doorway, still shuddering, growing taller as he walked toward the quaking woman. A crystal began to grow in his hand, "I warned lle never a' come sinome!" He was so angry that he didn't realize that he was speaking in Elven to Sarah. Jareth lifted his arm, Sarah screamed in fear and covered her head. A bright blue light engulfed her, leaving Jareth to blink rapidly at the now empty spot Sarah had sat in only seconds ago. The crystal slipped from his large paw to break harmlessly on the ground. The sound of shattering glass snapped Jareth out of his trance and lurched forward, catching the doorway before he fell into the room._

_Jareth turned and stumbled out of the bathroom. He reached the post he had used only minutes ago, and grabbed it for stability. It seemed that every time Jareth changed back to his normal self, the transformation itself drained him, physically and magically. Jareth gritted his teeth against the pain of reverting to his normal form. Once he was at least looking half ways normal, did Jareth summon a crystal. "Show me the edainme." Jareth commanded. Jareth turned and slid the length of the post to sit on the cold marble floor. The crystal flared a bright white and Jareth saw where Sarah had been taken. "Amonta de' Toya!" he cursed throwing away the crystal and summoned another one. Jareth used the bedpost to return to an upright position. "Neuma sambe." He said into the crystal and dropped it, disappearing in a flash of white light and silver glitter. _

* * *

Sarah landed with a painful thump on stone stairs. She slid over the smooth marble and tried not to fall off. Taking a deep breath, Sarah closed her eyes, opening them; she stood up, using a hand to steady herself against the wall. Sarah snatched it back in surprise. The walls were _trembling_. Sarah knew from talking with her friends that the land of the Labyrinth itself was a live, sentient being, but the castle? "Come on, you've _got_ to be kidding me." She muttered. The Escher Room was different from the last time she had been in there. The stairs and walls were each made of different stone materials. Marble, Quartz, and rough shale were the ones Sarah could name on site. The others she had no clue. Picking the staircase she landed on, Sarah headed up, in the hope that it was the direction to the exit.

Several frustrating minutes later; Sarah hit another dead end. She turned around; hands on her hips to find that the way she had come before was blocked off with another wall, sealing her in. "Damn it!" Sarah swore, running her hand through her hair, yanking hair from the braid. Snarling in anger, Sarah pulled the whole thing over her shoulder and swiftly untied the ribbon from the end. She shook her unbound hair back over her shoulders where it fell in glorious waves down her back. Sarah looked around, trying to find a way out. She felt along the walls seeking an opening, anything. After a fruitless search, Sarah sighed and rubbed her neck. Her wandering eyes lighted on the edge of the platform she stood on. Could that? No, could that really be the way to out? Sarah wondered, walking to the edge and peeking over. "What the hell." Sarah muttered. She took a breath, closed her eyes, and stepped off the edge, as if turning a corner. A short feeling of vertigo and the sensation of falling a moment later, Sarah found herself upside down but right side up, opposite from where she was standing a moment earlier. "Whoa…" Sarah whispered. With the room now completely flipped, there were completely new surroundings of stairways and arches to go through. She spotted a set of stairs going down. Reaching the next floor, Sarah decided to keep heading in a straight direction. So she veered toward the next set of stairs angling down.

Several popping noises warned Sarah, and she, on impulse, ducked. Many small objects whizzed over her head and peppered the wall behind her with holes. Sarah didn't pause to look behind as she took off toward the intended stairs. Sarah knew what was being shot at her. She remembered them from the dreams she had of the chase in the Goblin City. Someone was shooting bullets at her. Running up the stairs, Sarah soon realized that she wasn't getting anywhere. The stairs were moving as she ran. Therefore, Sarah was still almost at the top of the stairs she was at, when she had run all the way to the top moments before. Then, to make matters worse, the stairs flattened into one long slide. A trapdoor opened silently at the bottom of the stairs, and thus Sarah slid with a long scream to her death plunge.

XxXxXxXxXxX

Jareth stepped from the portal into the Escher Room, and on instinct, promptly ducked. A pendulum with a sharp blade attached at the end, swung over Jareth's head with a swish, taking several inches off his shoulder length hair with it. He timed the next swing and rolled underneath it to the other side. Jareth sighed and then stiffened as muffled popping noises sounded from up a head. _'She must have set off the entire room!'_ A surprised scream followed closely on the heels of the popping noises. _"No, not her."_ Jareth took off, up the stairs next to him at a sprint, taking them two at a time.

XxXxXxXxXxX

Jareth topped the stairs turned slide, to see Sarah sliding the last few feet to certain death. He took a running jump and landed feet first, surfer style, whizzing down the slick stairs, faster than Sarah. Jareth flipped over the startled woman to the other side of the platform, ready to catch Sarah. The room had other ideas. It cut off the last few feet of Sarah's impromptu ride and the floor just opened below her. Jareth swore vividly, diving toward Sarah, hands reaching, before the Escher Room could claim her. Forever.

XxXxXxXxX

Sarah scrabbled for any sort of purchase as she slid closer to the edge. A fast moving shape skated past Sarah, to fast for her eyes to follow. The shape reached the end of the slide stairs and flipped up and over her to land a few feet from the hole Sarah was swiftly approaching. Unexpectedly, the floor opened up underneath her…and…she was falling…!

XxXxXxXxX

A hand clothed in soft black leather seized her wrist; halting Sarah's downward decent. Blinking back tears of stinging pain at her wrenched wrist, Sarah looked up to find Jareth leaning over the lip of the hole.

"Give. Me. Your. Hand." Jareth ground out, reaching out with his other hand, arm starting to tremble from the strain. Sarah reached upward, hand shaking. Jareth caught her other hand and pulled her up slowly. Finally, Jareth dragged Sarah over the edge of the platform. He let go of Sarah as soon as she was safe. Sarah glared at him, and both leaned against the opposite wall, panting from the excursion. "Silly fool. You somehow set off the traps in the whole room." Jareth growled, running his hand through his hair, brushing the long strands out of his face.

"How was I to know? I was dropped here by your doing." Sarah snapped, temper flaring.

"I don't know!" Jareth, his very short reign on his temper shattering, snapped back, "I didn't send you here. I certainly wouldn't have sent you here! I was going to throw you in that bloody Oubliette!" Ignoring Sarah and her equally pale face at his admission, Jareth stood and tried to locate where he had come in, so that they could get back out without further incident. He looked down his long nose at Sarah and nodded his head in the direction he wanted her to go. She scowled at him and stood up, firmly pushing from her mind that Jareth had just saved her from certain death and still managed to look incredible.

Jareth felt he had the hardest time of them both. He turned from a wonderfully tousled Sarah, having noticed the little thing she called a nightgown and her hair cascading around and down her shoulders in a mass of dark curls. Jareth saw that the area surrounding them had changed again to a staircase, this time heading down. Before they started back to the portal, Jareth placed a hand gently on the wall and found it as he expected. _"Seere."_ Jareth muttered placing a bit of his **Will** behind the words. _"Lietha guldur"_ The violent trembling slowed to a mild vibration underneath his hand.

"What did you say?" Sarah asked, coming up behind him.

Jareth glanced over his shoulder at her before heading down the stairs. "I told the room to be calm, at peace, as your mere presence sent it into high alert. I also commanded it to dispel the magic in this room so that we may pass safely back through."

"So the room thought I was an enemy?" Sarah questioned.

"Yes. This room is designed specifically to confuse and confound those that get far in The Game. However, if you were not permitted in here, the room would set off a number of traps, depending on the danger level of the person trespassing." Jareth explained, heading through a low arched doorway.

"Oh, so the room thought I was that big of a threat, huh?" Sarah said, smirking a little at the idea that the room thought she was dangerous.

Jareth rolled his eyes at the tone in Sarah's voice. "No, other magic set the room to high alert. Don't think yourself that big of threat. Because you're not."

Sarah bristled at the patronizing voice Jareth used. Huffing loudly, Sarah followed after the annoying man. They were almost there. Jareth could feel the portal stronger now, just up this next set of stairs and he would be free of this temptress in pink satin. Sarah would move her hair out of her face and he would get a whiff of the flowery shampoo she used. If he didn't get away from Sarah soon, Jareth was quite sure he would take her right then and there, against a wall if need be. Several times in fact.

"I'll show you threat." Sarah muttered under her breath. Suddenly, a very loud and audible click sounded. Sarah cringed as Jareth stopped; shoulders tensed, and turned around slowly. His eyes and hers traveled slowly down to her foot slightly sunken into the floor. "I didn't mean it!" Sarah squeaked.

"You never mean it." Jareth grumbled darkly.

Jareth tackled Sarah and several things whistled overhead very closely, hitting the wall with a thunk. Sarah flinched and found Jareth's face inches from hers. He was sprawled on top of her, covering Sarah with his body. She could feel Jareth's heart pumping furiously, his warm body pressed up against hers. She knew his breathing hitched a little as he realized how thin her nightgown was, the way his leg was in-between hers, and Sarah could feel that part of him pressed up against her leg, a scorching heat. Sarah's wide eyes met Jareth's smoldering gaze of deepest blue and brilliant green; her pupils dilated, the black nearly overwhelming the shining hazel.

" Please." Jareth whispered, Sarah's body had reacted much the same way his had. Her nipples hard through the thin satin of her nightgown, the way he fit into her every hollow, hard where she was soft. Sarah hitched her breath as his leg moved in-between her legs. Jareth could feel the heat emanating from her secret place and knew that Sarah wanted this as much as he did. '_god's she is a beautiful creature._' Jareth thought to himself. "Don't be afraid, _a'mael_." Jareth ran his hand slowly up her face, gently caressing her cheeks and lips with his gloved fingertips. Sarah waited breathlessly, while her sanity screamed at her to kick, shout; do _something_ other than let Jareth lean the rest of the way and touch his lips to hers.

It never happened.

The moment shattered as numerous things whistled overhead. Jareth abruptly jerked off Sarah with a surprised grunt. While they had lain there and contemplated each other, Jareth had risen a few inches off of Sarah. Sarah sat up, pulling air into squashed lungs, the heated moment gone. Turning, Sarah opened her mouth to deliver a blistering scold when the sight next to her stopped her short. Jareth lay flat on his back, looking up at the ceiling in surprise and pain as a red-feathered arrow protruded from his left shoulder. "_Jareth_!" Sarah gasped.

"This…is…the first time the castle has ever disobeyed. Ever." Jareth said blankly, still looking up at the ceiling.

"Let's worry about that later." Sarah said leaning over him. There was no blood as of yet. His shirt was puckered around the shaft of the arrow, and the arrow itself seemed to be holding in the blood.

"Damn." Jareth hissed as Sarah helped him to sit up.

"It looks like it didn't go through." Sarah said, as she looked it over. When she reached to help, Jareth yanked out of her hold and stood. "Jareth, you're hurt, let me help." Sarah protested, standing.

Jareth lightly touched the embedded arrow and flinched. "I think you've done enough." He hissed. With a dramatic flourish of his fingers, Jareth summoned a crystal; only it didn't appear. Staring at his hand as if it had grown another finger, Jareth summoned a crystal. It still didn't appear.

Sarah tapped her foot, "Well, what are you staring at your hand like that? Magic us out of here."

"I'm trying." Jareth snapped, then staggered and Sarah had to grab him around the waist to keep him from falling over. The arrow had a touch of iron in it, and it made the wound burn like fire. Bearable, however, if Jareth didn't get attention in the next ten minutes, the iron would start to dissolve in his bloodstream and he would be dead before the night was through.

Scowling at this sudden turn of weakness, Jareth concentrated, a little dizzy, and Sarah watched a crystal slowly form on his fingers. "Bedchambers." Jareth ground out, struggling to use waning powers, sweat forming on his brow from the effort.

Suddenly they reappeared by the fireplace, the same room Sarah had vacated only ten minutes before. Woozy from transporting for the first time, Sarah stood a moment to center herself. Jareth took that time to wrench himself from her.

He tried unsuccessfully to remove the arrow from his shoulder, the pain of it nearly overwhelming his senses now. Sarah came over, "You need help to get that out. Call one of your goblins to get hot water with an antiseptic, some bandages, soft cloths, and a strong painkiller."

The goblins, having heard the commotion were at the door listening. Sarah turned around and snapped, "Well? Go!" All the goblins turned as one and ran, leaving Jareth and Sarah alone. "Here, its better if I do that." She told Jareth reaching out with gentle fingers. By goblin magic, a streaming bowl with a cloth beside it, appeared on a table that stood at the side of an armchair in front of the fireplace, and a cheery fire flared to life in the fireplace. "Thank you." Sarah told the air, knowing that somehow the goblins had heard.

Jareth backed up, "I've had enough from you tonight." He snarled at her like a wounded animal and drew back. Unexpectedly, he tripped, and stumbling, ended up in an armchair. Momentarily stunned by his unusual lack of grace, Jareth sat sprawled in the chair, blinking up at the ceiling. Taking advantage of his lacking grace, Sarah started easing the arrow out of his shoulder. The wound wasn't deep but it wasn't a shallow puncture either.

Jareth came back to himself as the pain flared in his shoulder. Looking over, he saw a dark head bent over his shoulder, working quickly but being as gentle as possible to remove the arrow. Hearing a sharp intake of air, Sarah glanced at Jareth's face pinched in pain, and then back to the task at hand. "Almost there…got it!" she exclaimed, pulling out a bloodied arrowhead from where it had embedded itself in Jareth's shoulder. Blood welled out of the wound; quickly saturating the white shirt Jareth wore, with dark red. Sarah snatched up a cloth and firmly pressed it to his shoulder.

"That hurt." Jareth stated, his fangs sharpening.

"Would you rather I had called one of your goblins and have them take it out?" Sarah retorted, checking to see if the bleeding had stopped.

Jareth blanched, making his already pale skin ghostly white. "Goddess no!" he shuddered in horror. His goblins tended to just cut off limbs that had been injured. While his goblins could regenerate their limbs quite quickly, Jareth, on the other hand was fae, he could not. Sarah picked up an earthenware mug filled with something steaming and handed it to Jareth. He took it and sniffed warily. The smell of the goblins pain brew made Jareth's lip curl in disgust, but he drank it in one gulp, made a face at the aftertaste and gave the mug back to Sarah.

Satisfied that the bleeding had stopped, Sarah pulled away the bloody cloth and set it aside. Picking up a metal kettle, Sarah poured steaming water into a hand made stoneware bowl, then she unfolded a small envelope filled with a white powder and poured it into the water. Retrieving another clean cloth, Sarah dipped the rag into the water, ringing out the excess water; she began to gently pat at the injury, peeling away his dried bloody shirt from the edges of the arrow wound. Finished with her initial cleaning of the wound, Sarah looked at the man in front of her. She smiled softly. He had closed his eyes during her initial cleaning and it looked like he was sleeping. The hard lines around his mouth and eyes had softened in sleep and his face was that of a young man, not an arrogant and cruel king, bent on revenge. "Jareth?" Sarah hesitantly asked the Goblin king, sorry to bother him.

"Hmmm?" under Sarah's gentle ministrations, the warmth from the fire and the numbing painkiller, Jareth had drifted off. Opening his eyes, Jareth straightened a little in the chair, wincing as the motion pulled at his injury.

"I was able to loosen your shirt from around the injury, but I need to remove your, um, shirt." Sarah began. "So that I can stitch and bandage the wound up." She finished cheeks pink.

Jareth nodded and raised his good arm. The painkillers had taken affect, dulling Jareth's temper and melting away his resistance to Sarah's help. Sarah pulled his shirt off him, taking care not to bump his shoulder. Placing his ruined shirt with the soiled cleaning cloths, Sarah turned back and found a god wearing only black trousers, in place of Jareth. Smooth pale skin, a stomach that was lean with a hit of muscle, broad chest, and pink nipples puckered from the sudden change in temperature, despite the warmth of the fire, and a sensuous face framed with shoulder length golden blond hair stared back at Sarah with smoldering eyes.

Sucking in a heated breath, Sarah forced herself back to the task at hand. She cleaned the puncture wound a second time, sewed it up carefully, and bound up Jareth's shoulder in clean white bandages. After dropping the bloodied cloths and shirt into the fire, Sarah turned around to find Jareth still staring at her intently.

"Come here Sarah." Jareth murmured. Sarah's feet took her to his side while her mind was still deciding whether this was a good idea or not. He reached up and with the pad of his thumb, lightly touched were the piece of wood had nicked Sarah. "You're hurt." Jareth whispered and with a gentle tug of his hand, Sarah found herself sitting in his lap. With his good arm, Jareth reached for a spare cloth and with some of the leftover water in the kettle, proceeded to wash away the dried blood on Sarah's cheek and the scratch itself. There was something tender in the way Jareth gently cleaned her cheek, so Sarah sat quietly, mesmerized by the way the firelight played over his hair and face.

Finally satisfied with the cleanliness of Sarah's cheek, Jareth reached around in front of Sarah and his bare arm grazed the front of her nightgown. Sarah's breathing hitched noticeably. Jareth placed the cloth back on the side table and brought his arm back, again brushing against Sarah's breasts. Sarah shivered and her eyes fell to half mast. The soft curves underneath the thin satin of Sarah's nightgown displayed the proof of her growing arousal.

Pushing Sarah's curls to the side, Jareth blew warm air on the back of her neck. Goosebumps rose on Sarah's skin and she vibrated with desire stirring in her belly. Jareth continued the stream of air up to a particularly sensitive spot right behind Sarah's jaw. Eyes closing, Sarah tipped her head back, a silent invitation for Jareth to continue down her throat. Jareth responded by tracing the tip of his nose down her slender neck to the junction of shoulder meeting neck and back up. When he brought his gaze back up and Jareth found Sarah's eyes closed and those delectable lips parted to release heated, shallow breaths.

Pleased with himself, Jareth smiled. Sarah opened her eyes, black eyelashes drifting upward, and her eyes began to wake from the sensations. Before Sarah could begin to properly think again, Jareth traced his nose around the curve of her ear. Sarah's head began to drift back again. Jareth took the moment to shift and Sarah found her back pressed up against Jareth's chest. Replacing his breath with his knuckles, Jareth traced an imaginary path down Sarah's neck, across her collarbone, and finally, to the top of one of her breasts. Jareth blew a stream of cool air down the front of Sarah's nightgown, right on one of her puckered nipples.

Sarah couldn't help it; she moaned in reply and thrust her breasts up higher, to that little stream of air. Jareth groaned softly as Sarah's body arched in response to his stimulation. Her satin clad back rubbed on his nipples, causing Jareth to suck in a shuttering breath. Jareth placed his mouth to the junction of Sarah's neck and licked, sucking a little. She whimpered as her hips began to wiggle. He nudged apart her legs with his knee, keeping it there in between; Jareth shifted his hands and rubbed the pads of his thumbs back and forth on her nipples. Crying out, Sarah was unbearably aroused by his touch.

Jareth slid one of his hands from her breast to her thigh and trailed his fingers up and under her nightgown. Sarah's eyes snapped open at the first intimate touch of him, but they closed again with his name on her lips as he delved two fingers into her. "Ooooohhh…." Sarah moaned, moving her hips with his fingers.

Jareth placed his mouth right beside her ear. "Do you like this Sarah?" he breathed hotly.

"Yes…oh, god…" Sarah whimpered, her backside brushed up against the bulge in the front of Jareth's pants.

"Goddess!" He groaned and began to move his fingers faster. Grinding into his hand, Sarah clutched his forearms and threw her head back with a cry. She was close, so close. Jareth panted and growled, his hardness rubbing against her butt. Jareth put his mouth to the juncture of Sarah's neck and swirled his tongue around. That did it, muscles clenching, Sarah cried out, body shuddering with each wave of pleasure.

Sarah came floating down from her pleasure high a few moments later. Reality came crashing down seconds afterward. "Oh, god…What did I just do? What did I just _let_ you do?" Sarah shot from Jareth lap as if it were on fire.

Jareth had been close to his own release. "Please." He said, brain befuddled by painkillers and lust.

"No!" Sarah gasped and fled the room. The slamming of his door echoed in his otherwise empty room, save for the crackling of flames.

Jareth braced his head against the chair, breathing loudly, his body aching, and not just his shoulder either.


	5. We NEVER celebrate Christmas

**I was out of town for the weekend. Sorry! But keep reading and reviewing!**

* * *

The light of the bright _Glora_ streamed through her windows and across Sarah's bed, waking her slowly. Sarah lay in bed, staring blankly up at the medley of colors soaring from corner to corner on her ceiling. Last nights events started to filter through her sleep fuddled brain. Sarah groaned, feeling her cheeks flame. '_What was I thinking? What gave Jareth the right to do that? Why did I let him do that?_' some part of Sarah's brain gleefully told the woman that that's exactly what she wanted Jareth to do.

Sarah recounted what had happened after she had fled Jareth's chambers. She had run back to her room and slammed the door behind her, still feeling the swirl of pleasure Jareth had invoked upon her body. After climbing back into her bed, it had taken Sarah at least another hour before calming her body and mind to sleep, her dreams full of searching for someone.

With a sigh, Sarah pushed back the covers and stood, wincing at the cold marble under her bare feet. Padding over to her wardrobe, Sarah glanced out the window as she passed by and stopped in her tracks. At least several inches of snow had fallen since the time she had gotten back to her room and it covered the castle grounds and the houses of Goblin City in a blanket of white. A knock on her door brought Sarah out of her surprised stupor. "Yes?" she called.

The door opened and a white muzzle poked itself around the edge. "Is my Lady decent?" called Sir Didymus. Upon spotting her in her nightgown, he pulled back behind the door. "My Lady, its past ten o'clock!" Sir Didymus said scandalized. "I will wait for you out in the hallway, while you make yourself presentable. After you have done so, may I have the pleasure of escorting you about the grounds?"

Sarah placed a hand on her mouth to stifle her giggles at Sir Didymus' reaction to her in her nightgown. The door shut with a firm click and Sarah doubled over, laughing. After her giggles had subsided, Sarah strode over to the wardrobe and found it stocked with sweaters in various colors, jeans, sweatpants, sweatshirts, socks, underwear, and anything else she might require to dress warmly for the cold outside. Apparently the wardrobe placed clothes appropriate to the taste of the wearer and the temperature outside. Sarah picked out a sweater made from soft green wool, blue jeans, socks, underwear, and going into the bathroom, quickly washed up and changed into the clothing. She reemerged from the bathroom, pulled her hair into a ponytail, and opened the wardrobe to find it filled with winter boots, hats, coats, gloves, and scarves of every kind and color. Picking out boots, scarf, hat, gloves, and a coat, Sarah moved to close the door when a flash of white combined with shiny metal caught her eye. Smiling in recognition, Sarah grabbed and then closed the door. Bundled up and ready to go out, Sarah met Sir Didyimis outside in the hallway. Sir Didymus nodded his approval and started down the hall.

"Sir Didymus, why is there snow outside?" Sarah asked as they walked.

"The seasons have changed on us." Sir Didymus answered, pulling open the door to go outside.

"Why? Yesterday it was warm, now it's cold." Sarah shivered at the cold breeze as she walked outside. Especially last night after she had returned to her room, the temperature outside and inside the castle had been sweltering.

"The temperature changes with the King most days now." Sir Didymus replied. At Sarah's questioning look, he explained, "The weather is greatly affected by the King's mood. Whatever mood King Jareth is in, it enhances the current temperature, or if he is feeling strongly enough, the weather changes or heightens altogether. Last night, the Labyrinth entered its winter season, so" They rounded a corner of the castle, feet crunching in the new snow. "While it should be cold, this time of year, it shouldn't be cold enough to snow yet. Hence I have concluded that King Jareth is in a foul mood and I sought to keep you out of his sight for now."

"Oh." Sarah thought of how the temperature had risen last night in Jareth's room and blushed red at the thought that their brief foray with each other had affected the temperature outside as well as inside the castle. "So, what is celebrated in the Labyrinth during the winter time?" Sarah asked; she had never visited her friends when it was winter time because she had her own things to do during the Aboveground winter. "Christmas?"

A cold, clipped voice answered. "We _never_ celebrate Christmas." Sarah stopped in her tracks. They had been so engrossed in their discussion; Sarah never noticed the lone figure facing a large, frozen pond. There Jareth stood, dressed in his ever present boots, black trousers, a black coat lined with gray fur, his increasingly long hair in a low ponytail, and fur lined gloves encased his hands.

Turning to Sir Didymus to tell him that she wanted to go elsewhere, Sarah blinked. The little knight had disappeared and there weren't any tracks leading away from her, so where had Sir Didymus gone? Her hands balled into fists at her sides, last night completely forgotten, Sarah stomped over to Jareth. "Alright, I know you don't like me, but you don't have to take it out on my friends. Where is he?"

Jareth gave the exasperating woman next to him a cold perusal; she had wrapped herself in a red coat trimmed at the sleeves and hood with white fur, a white knit hat covered her human ears, red gloves lined with the same white fur, and a white scarf wrapped around her slender neck. He noted the chill in the air had turned Sarah's cheeks a charming shade of pink. Looking back across the expanse of the pond, Jareth coolly replied, "While _you_ may think I did this. _I _did not. I don't concern myself with that yappy mutt or the rest of your little group you think to call friends. Don't think that my lack in judgment last night changed anything. I have nothing more to say to you."

Sarah drew back, feeling the cut of Jareth's careless words on the subject of last night. His eyes were so frosty now, compared to the blaze in them when he had pleasured her. Stiffening her back, Sarah turned away from him. If he could act like nothing happened then so could she. "Fine." She plopped down where she stood and began unlacing her boots. Untying the string that had hung ice-skates on her shoulders; Sarah inserted her foot into the skate and began to lace it up.

Curiosity got the better of Jareth at the sight of the strange shoes Sarah was putting on. "What is that?" he asked, perplexed.

Ignoring Jareth, Sarah tied the string into a bow around her ankle. Jareth watched with fascination as Sarah stepped onto the ice with those strange boots and began to glide, quite gracefully, around the pond. After taking a lap around the pond, Sarah slid up to Jareth, stopping right in front of him. "So you're talking to me now?" She asked, hands on her hips. "What do you have against Christmas?"

"No, I was merely curious to the contraptions on your feet." Jareth stated frigidly, his very short temper fraying at the edges. '_I will not lose control, will not lose control, will not lose control._' He chanted in his head. '_Think dunking your head in the Bog of Eternal Stench._'

"Then I won't tell you." Sarah replied tartly. She turned to go.

Jareth latched onto her arm. "As your king, I order you to tell me." He commanded his injured shoulder began to throb, as his hair strained at the tie it was in.

Sarah tugged at the vise grip he had on her wrist. "No, I will not tell you. Let go of me!" she demanded.

"No. Not until you answer me." Jareth pulled the resisting Sarah closer. She couldn't help it; the skates had no traction on the slippery ice. The wind picked up and began to whistle through the bare trees. His eyes blazed cold fire.

"I won't! Nothing in this world could ever make me answer an arrogant asshole like you!" Sarah cried.

Jareth jerked Sarah to him, wrapping his arm tightly around her waist and the other slid into her hair, pulling the tie that held it up, letting the dark tresses tumble down. Jareth laced his hand through the silky hair, tilting her head back. "_Nothing?_" he whispered fiercely and crushed Sarah's lips to his in a seering kiss. Sarah fought at first but she gave in, melting into Jareth's passionate kiss. '_So sweet, so pure, untouched by my darkness…_' Jareth's thoughts jumbled around in his mind. '_No, no, no, no! She's the reason why you have this darkness in the first place! No!_' his inner beast roared, stirring in its dark prison.

Jareth tore his lips from Sarah's with a sudden gasp and pushed her roughly away from him. Sarah slid a few feet back, hit a bump on the ice and fell on her butt, extracting a pained grunt from the woman. Visibly trembling, Jareth raised a shaking finger at the astonished Sarah, "The day you came, is the day my life ended!"

He grunted in distress and doubled over, grabbing his injured shoulder. "Jareth?" Sarah queried, getting slowly up and sliding over to him.

Jareth drew back, still bent, clutching his arm. "Don't _touch me_!" he harshly snarled, glaring at Sarah with feral eyes. Sarah gasped in fear and ran for her boots. Quickly removing her skates and tying up her boots, Sarah looked one more time at Jareth as he fell to his knees in the snow, growling harshly. "_Go_!" He shouted, Sarah turned and fled, kicking up snow. The overcast sky turned a dark gray and big, fat flakes of snow began to descend to the white covered ground. Baying at the sky in agony, dark horns sprouted from Jareth's head, his hair sprang around him, free from its confinement, and his body shook as it began to enlarge, shredding his clothes. Finally, a great beast with golden blond fur and dark horns shook, shaking the falling snow off its body, and loped off in the direction Sarah had taken, mumbling to itself.

XxXxXxXxX

Sarah tore through the grounds of the castle. Even having seen Jareth turn back from whatever it was, it still was scary to see him turn into that, that, Sarah fumbled for the right word and gave up. There was no way to describe what Jareth turns into, other than a mindless beast. Sarah in her mindless running, ended up at a door in a wall. Hoping that it got her out of the way of Jareth, Sarah pulled open the door, hurried through, and finding a lock on the door, secured the door. Bracing her back against it, Sarah tried to breathe quietly. She stiffened as she heard the shuffling gait of Jareth by the door. Grumbling to itself, it tested the door and finding it barricaded, moaned low in its throat_ "Sairooo…"_ but after a time, Sarah heard it move away and off into the distance.

Sarah sighed in relief, closed her eyes, and slid to the ground. "Sarah?" a voice asked. Sarah opened her eyes to find Hoggle standing in front of her. Sarah gave a little scream and scrambled to her feet. "Sarah, Sarah, its me Hoggle!" He quickly cautioned her.

"Oh…" Sarah teetered, almost having too much for one day. Hoggle grabbed her hand and dragged her to a bare stone bench.

"What's happened?" He demanded as Sarah put her head in her hands. "Do ya's want me to call Jareth?"

"No!" Sarah's head shot up. At Hoggle's startled expression, she inhaled deeply and let it out in a gust of white vapor. "I mean no thank you Hoggle. I was just with Jareth actually." Sarah smiled weakly.

"Really? Why then did you come in here like the biting fairies were at the heels of ya?" Hoggle asked.

Sarah looked at him, "Very funny Hoggle, I know you heard him at the door." She noticed Hoggle brushing dirt from his hands and realized that she had ended up in the She'mai garden.

"No I didn't." Hoggle insisted, "I been working." Sarah craned her neck to see where the dwarf had been working, but couldn't spot the area. Maybe Hoggle was working down one of the paths. "Now, why did ya come in here?" he asked again, sitting next to her. His knees weren't wet and there wasn't a trace of snow on them.

"I made Jareth angry at me." Sarah shook her head. "At least, I think I did. We were arguing, but then," she tilted her head, thinking.

Hoggle motioned his hands. "Then…what? What happened?"

"He kissed me."

"WHAT!" Hoggle fell off his perch on the bench into a pile of snow.

Sarah blushed, ducking her head."Well _I_ didn't want him too. But he pushed me away the next second, and I fell to the ground." She shivered and hugged herself, remembering what happened next.

Hoggle picked himself up from the pile, brushing snow from the seat of his pants. "Wells I can see what happens next."

"Hoggle, why does Jareth hate Christmas?" Sarah asked.

Hoggle looked away. "Well," he hedged.

"Hoggle." Sarah had never known him to look away from her before.

"Ya see, when ya wished away your brother, it was the night before Christmas here." Hoggle explained.

"Oh!" Sarah softly exclaimed. "But then, why was there no snow when I ran the Labyrinth? I was told that Jareth could only affect the weather a little."

"Because the girl he had been watching constantly for the last couple of months was finally playing his game. Jareth had met his match, his equal in cleverness, temperament, and passion. He was thrilled." Hoggle clarified.

"And Jareth can affect the temperature when he's feeling strongly." Sarah finished the train of thought. Sarah paused. "Wait…what happened when I got to his castle? Beat him? Refused him?"

"He shattered like one o'those damned crystals of his." Hoggle stated. "Then he came in here, destroyed every flower. The next morning we had twelve feet of snow and a deep freeze of the whole Labyrinth."

Sarah sat and digested what Hoggle had said. Hoggle shivered, "I want to go inside, warm up these old bones of mine with a nice sip of scotch. Care to join me?" he asked, standing up and brushing snow from his winter coat.

Sarah realized that her face was freezing and she couldn't feel her toes anymore for the temperature had dropped and it was snowing quite heavily now. She chuckled, "I'll join you for the warmth, not the drink."

They went back inside through a different door then the one leading to Sarah's room. Sarah found herself in what was the castle's kitchen. It bustled with activity. Jareth had hand picked the more intelligent of his people to clean, cook, and general odds and ends that happened when running a castle of this size. Tantalizing smells wafted from a large kettle that sat over a large fire pit in the middle of the room. It was sweltering in the kitchens. Sarah pulled off her outerwear, hanging it over her arm. A pair of goblins hurried past with arms full of shinny red fruit, an elf stacking fire wood in a corner of the room, and a little pixie with her white hair caught up in a red handkerchief, cutting an orange vegetable of some sort with a wicked looking knife on an old worn wood table. Whatever was in that kettle smelled delicious and Sarah's stomach let her know quite emphatically that she had skipped breakfast.

Suddenly a dwarf woman with dark brown skin, dressed in a forest green dress with the sleeves rolled up and a crisp white apron appeared in front of Sarah. "What's this? A growling stomach? Not in my kitchen." She declared, pushing an errant red curl that had escaped her green handkerchief, behind her ear.

"Sarah, this be Henrie—" Hoggle began but was cut off by the woman.

"Henri. Henri said, "I be not overly fond of me full name so call me Henri, everyone does." Her honey brown eyes sharpened as she looked at Sarah in the face. She wiped her hands on her apron and it out for Sarah to take. "You must be Sarah. The one who beat the Labyrinth." Sarah shook the warm hand, calloused by hard work. "Word travels fast when there's a new citizen to the castle and no word traveled faster when ya reappeared yesterday." Henri answered the question that Sarah was about to ask.

"We were just seeing if you have scotch anywhere." Hoggle said.

"With this child's stomach growling the way it is? I think not! Besides you know I be serving no alcohol in MY kitchen." Henri stated poking a finger into Hoggle's chest. "Come into the dinning hall dear and I'll bring you in something." Henri said pointing to the large wood door at the end of the room while Hoggle grunted and rubbed where Henri had poked.

"If it isn't too much trouble, may I eat in here?" Sarah asked, heartened by this formidable woman.

"Yes, yes." Henri steered Sarah over to the wooden table the small pixie worked at. Hoggle followed behind them, grumbling about tyrant woman. Grabbing a gnome by the collar, "Go get a seat and place settings for Miss Sarah, be quick about it!" Henri ordered him, and let him go with a trembling "Yes'm." By the time they reached the table, a wooden stool had miraculously appeared along with a spoon, brown stoneware cup and bowl. Sarah sat down and Hoggle searched for a seat himself.

Henri picked up the bowl and going over to the kettle, scooped a heaping something into it. Setting the bowl in front of Sarah, "Here, this'll fill you up and warm you from the inside out." Henri said and picked up Sarah's empty cup and disappeared.

Hoggle found a wobbly stool and sat next to Sarah. "Damn woman, thinks she can order me about. Huh, this here her kitchen…all that foolish nonsense…poking fingers where they don't belong…" Hoggle grumbled to himself, subconsciously rubbing again the spot where Henri poked him.

Sarah smiled to herself and transferred her attention from the grumpy dwarf to her bowl. A steaming mound of what Sarah took to be stew and beside the bowl was an oddly shaped spoon. The handle was highly arched, the bowl was almost flat. She picked it up and began to eat. Henri reappeared with two cups in each of her hands. She placed Sarah's cup at her spot, filled with spiced cider, and then set a cup in front of the sulking Hoggle. "There. It might not be quite the drink you be looking for but I'll wager that it'll do the intended job."

Hoggle peered suspiciously into his mug at the golden brown liquid inside. Henri motioned with her hands in a "go on" gesture. Shrugging his shoulders Hoggle took a huge gulp of the drink and his normally ruddy brown complexion turned completely red. He swallowed compulsively and began to splutter and choke, coughing as if trying to get rid of a lung. Sarah helped Henri in pounding Hoggle's back until the dwarf was somewhat in control of himself again. "What the hell is that?" Hoggle rasped out, pointing a slightly shaking finger at his cup.

"That'd be my family's famous brandy. Secret recipe passed down from generation to generation, from mother to daughter. I'll teach it to me own daughter one day." Henri said proudly.

Hoggle looked at his cup with new admiration. "Damn." He breathed and then picking up his cup, took a cautious sip this time.

Sarah finished her stew and all of her drink. Setting down her mug after draining the last drop, she sighed. "All done? Do you need anymore?" Henri asked.

Sarah shook her head. "No thank you. I'm full! It was delicious. Please give my compliments to the cook."

Henri, collecting the dishes, nodded her head. "I'll be sure to pass it on. Now, is there anything else that you would like? A piece of fruit? Cookie perhaps?" Sarah shook her head again. "Then I best be getting back to work. Fixing food for his majesty and the people of this castle be a full job. Good day Sarah and may the Spirit let us cross paths again." Henri walked off and began shouting orders at those in her way. "Solis, get some more wood for this fire! And Mira, that don't look like thinly sliced Umbas to me! Thinner, girl, thinner! Doze, what on earth are you doing with that big knife…" her voice died away into the crowd.

Hoggle finished his drink and set the mug back on the table where it was whisked away by the pixie who had been working at the table, but now done. Sarah noticed that his cheeks, normally brown mixed with a slight red, had more red in them then was usual. She nudged Hoggle with her elbow and nodded toward the door. Hoggle followed behind Sarah until they were out of the kitchens. Now back in the main part of the castle, the temperature was a little cooler than the elevated warmth in the kitchens. Sarah and Hoggle stopped by her rooms so that she could put away her outerwear. "Hoggle, do you know where Ludo and Sir Didymus are? Sir Didymus was with me this morning but he disappeared." Sarah asked putting her hair back into a ponytail.

"We're right here, my Lady." Sir Didymus replied, pushing open her door and allowed Ludo to lumber through. Hoggle cast Sir Didymus a thankful look as Sarah was distracted as to where Ludo could sit. Sarah led Ludo to sit in front of the fireplace and the great orange beast sat with a rumbling appreciation to the heat the fire gave off. "I thought you were going to stay with Sarah this morning." Hoggle hissed to Didymus. Sarah sat in one of the arm chairs by the fire, talking animatedly to Ludo.

"I was. Lady Sarah and I were outside walking the grounds and we happened upon the King. In quite a foul mood I might add." Sir Didymus whispered back.

"Sarah came in the garden like a night snapper was after her. I heard Jareth at the door seconds later but he didn't force his way in. Even though he knew that she was in there. Where were you?" Hoggle muttered.

"I was summoned." Didymus replied softly. Hoggle's eyebrows went up.

"Hoggle, Sir Didymus, why are you still standing by the door? One of you close it, and come over here!" Sarah said finally noticing the whispering pair. Hoggle closed the door, pretending not to notice the tiny crystal that snuck in before he closed the door. Sir Didymus saw it and mouthed _Jareth _to Hoggle. Hoggle nodded his head yes.

Shaking his head at his king's audacity to spy on Sarah, Hoggle and Sir Didymus sat in the armchairs around the fire. Sarah leaned forward excitedly. "Let's talk Christmas!"

_To Be Continued…_


	6. Miqula amin

A stunned silence met Sarah's words. Hoggle was the first to recover. "Are you damn crazy?" he shouted at her. Even Sir Didymus was shaking his head at Sarah.

Sarah held up a finger. "No, think about it. Guys, Jareth never had a decent Christmas after I beat him. Maybe, just maybe, if we give Jareth the best Christmas he's ever had; Jareth can find the good in life again."

Hoggle and Sir Didymus gave each other a long glance then Hoggle sighed. "Who am I to say no to you? Even if I were to say no, I think you would try anyway." He informed her.

"Command me, my Lady." Sir Didymus said, bowing formally. No one noticed the tiny crystal sitting behind Sarah's chair trembling faintly then shattered into nothing with the slightest 'pik'.

XxXxXxXxXxX

"_Command me my Lady." _Sir Didymus' voice came through the viewing crystal resting in Jareth's hand. His hand started to shake, "No!" Jareth hurled the orb across the room with all his strength, hearing with grim satisfaction the resounding crash of breaking crystal in the otherwise silent room.

Jareth grunted harshly a moment later, pitching forward; he almost fell out of his throne. A trembling hand went to his chest where the spasm had come from, the other gripped the arm of his chair, and his eyes stared blankly ahead. Another shooting pain ripped through Jareth's body as he thought _very _dark thoughts about what he was going to do to those, those _traitors_.

Choosing _her_ over him. Again.

His head slowly sunk downward, almost touching his chest, and a slight coil of wind began to pick up in the empty room, masking Jareth's rough and shallow breaths. Magic began to swirl around the room, emanating from Jareth as the light wind began to pick up speed. The gust started to knock things over as it gained strength.

XxXxXxXxX

The castle gave almost a humanlike shudder, startling the occupants in Sarah's room. "What was that?" Sarah asked, or would have asked, if the castle had not given another upheaval a minute later. She was thrown from her chair, landing on the floor in an undignified heap. Sarah watched as the cosmetic jars on her vanity vibrated across the surface and tipped off to smash on the floor. The shuddering didn't seem to be stopping anytime soon. If anything, it seemed like one continuous quake.

Ludo had wisely stayed where he was seated on the floor, but Hoggle and Sir Didymus clung to their armrests. "What. Is. Going. On?" Sarah asked between jolts.

Hoggle and Sir Didymus looked at each other over the armrests of their chairs. "Jareth." They confirmed with dread.

"What?!" Sarah exclaimed. "Is he throwing a temper tantrum or something?" Their silence only proved her random query true. "Are you kidding me? He's throwing a _temper tantrum_?"

The ground shook and more things fell, Sarah struggled to her feet. "Well that's going to stop, right now." She staggered out the door. "You stay here."

"Sarah!" Hoggle called.

"My Lady!" Sir Didymus bolted after her.

"Like hell I will." Hoggle growled, waving his hand at Ludo to follow, he lurched out the door after Didymus.

XxXxXxXxXxX

The four friends burst into the throne room and Ludo promptly grasped onto Sarah, Hoggle, and Didymus so that they wouldn't fly away from the tornado like winds whipping about. Ludo set Hoggle and Didymus behind himself, blocking a lot of the wind with his great bulk. Sarah watched as Jareth, slumped forward in his throne, gave a wave and she was torn from Ludo's grasp and hurled to the farthest corner of the room. Sarah landed in a bruised heap.

"What gives you the right to hurt the one person who is going to save you and this kingdom?" Hoggle demanded as he watched with worried eyes as Sarah pulled herself into a sitting position against the wall, clutching her midsection with a grimace.

"Why? You never listen to me. You're never loyal to me. You trip yourselves in a haste to please her, give you're undying devotion too her, hang on her every word." Jareth's voice was flat, yet echoed oddly at the same time.

Sarah heard the odd ringing tone to Jareth's voice. Forcing her eyes open and finding that breathing shallow was the only way to make her ribs ache less, Sarah looked across the room to see Jareth magically rip a tapestry off the wall and wrapped it around her friends. "Jareth, what are you doing?" she gasped and cautiously made her way on her hands and knees to kneel in front of him. Sarah tried to look at his face, just catch Jareth's eyes for a moment, to break the hold the beast inside of him had on his mind. "Jareth, look at me." She commanded.

Jareth swirled his upright hand, the wind finished winding the cloth all-around Hoggle and the others. Sarah's hair whipped around her face; she placed a gentle hand under the Goblin King's chin and lifted it so as to get a better look. Jareth's blank eyes met her worried ones. "Stop it; you're going to hurt yourself. Look what you're doing to your city!" Sarah pointed to the window where the shaking now reached Goblin City and many of the buildings were in danger of falling to pieces.

"_Kela_…" Jareth murmured pitifully and made a sweeping motion with his hand. The windows burst open with a bang, snow swirling in, an icy cold breeze added to the already strong winds Jareth had conjured. Sarah stared horrified as Jareth's captives began to slide to the open window, aided by the gale.

Sarah took Jareth's chilled and pale face between her hands. "Jareth, please don't do this." She whispered rubbing her thumb softly over his cheek. Jareth seemed to list for a moment into Sarah's warm palm.

Blinking slowly he said, "_Tua amin_…" then the magic in him, snatched his mind again and the winds, which were dropping, howled again.

Sarah bit her bottom lip in a second of indecision, but the muffled cries from her friends and the ones rising from the frightened inhabitants of the city made the decision for her. Muttering the one Elven word she knew and knew the meaning too. "_Miqula amin_." Sarah tugged Jareth's lips to hers.

The wind stopped abruptly and the tapestry fell away from Hoggle, Ludo, and Didymus. Hoggle looked like he was going to have a heart attack right were he was standing.

Jareth blinked his eyes in muted surprise. Slowly, his eyes closed…

Oh, _oh_...this is what he'd been missing. Pure, sweet, gentle, compassionate, stubborn, fiery…All that was Sarah was wrapped up in this one kiss. Jareth couldn't get enough of it. The beast loosened its hold on Jareth's mind, retreating for another day, another time.

The castle and the city gave one last shudder and stilled.

Sarah pulled away from his lips looking as if she'd been hit with the same bolt of lightening he had been hit with. "No…" Jareth murmured dazedly, pulling Sarah to meet him with a tentative kiss of his own. The wind blew through the open window, causing Sarah to shiver from the cold, breaking the kiss. Jareth looked around the destroyed room, the open window, to the woman sitting in front of him. Then as if someone had cut the strings holding him up, Jareth's eyes rolled back and fell out of his throne. Or, he would have if Sarah hadn't caught his slumping body.

Ribs screaming in protest, Sarah gasped in pain as red spots danced before her eyes. "Uh, guys? A little help?" The dead quiet in the room was broken by her words and Sarah's friends rushed over to help.

Ludo gently picked up his king in his arms while Hoggle and Sir Didymus fussed over Sarah as she stood shakily. "I'm alright guys. Really I am." She assured Hoggle as he looked dubiously at her. "Let's get him to bed, shall we?"

_To Be Continued..._

* * *

**I am the worst updater in the world! I am so sorry that I have made you guys wait so long for a new chapter. School and work caught up to me and it was all I could do to stay healthy and keep myself sane. (Well as sane as the rest of us can be.) Anyway, it is now Spring Break for me and I will try my hardest to get another chapter up sometime this week while I'm off. No promises but I will try. (As most of you have gone on to stories that update sooner... :( Anyway, please keep reading and reviewing! I love you reviews! They make me feel really guilty for not updating sooner and will, hopefully, spur me into doing that faster. **

**Elven Translation:**

**_Kela: _Go away**

**_Tua (amin): _Help (me)**

**_Miqula (amin):_ Kiss (me)**


	7. JARETH SARAH!

_Then as if someone had cut the strings holding him up, Jareth's eyes rolled back and fell out of his throne. Or, he would have if Sarah hadn't caught his slumping body. _

_Ribs screaming in protest, Sarah gasped in pain as red spots danced before her eyes. "Uh, guys? A little help?" The dead quiet in the room was broken by her words and Sarah's friends rushed over to help. _

_Ludo gently picked up his king in his arms while Hoggle and Sir Didymus fussed over Sarah as she stood shakily. "I'm alright guys. Really I am." She assured Hoggle as he looked dubiously at her. "Let's get him to bed, shall we?" _

**XxXxXxXxX**

Jareth awoke in his bed, dressed in loose fitting pants and one of his night shirts. The white gauze curtains were pulled around his bed, giving privacy. The afternoon sun spilled through his window filling the room with a warm golden glow. Pushing back his comforter, Jareth got out of bed, peering around he saw that someone had left a tray with a teapot, a plate with some muffins, a cup and saucer on the table beside his favorite chair, and a fire burned quietly in the fireplace. He tottered over to his chair, feeling as if he'd been sick for a long time and was now on the mend. All but collapsing in the chair Jareth contented himself to sit for a moment before investigating what was left for him. A quiet knock on the door and Jareth looked over his shoulder to see Sarah poke her head in. "Ah, you're awake." She said, sounding relieved. Sarah came into the room. She had changed into a clean billowy shirt that buttoned up the front and jeans before checking to see if Jareth had awoken.

"My head is aching, therefore I am awake." Jareth replied, putting a hand to his head.

"Try the tea, Henri tells me that her _laure_ tea will just about cure any headaches." Sarah said gesturing to the pot.

"I know, believe me, I know." He replied wryly reaching for it.

After his first sip of tea, his head was soothed and the thudding at his temples became a thing of the past. Reality soon set in afterward. Setting his cup back onto it saucer, Jareth looked at Sarah. "What happened?" he questioned.

"You don't remember?" Sarah asked, eyes worried.

Jareth closed his eyes and tilted his head back, trying to piece together his scattered memories. "I remember you on the pond…I got mad…You ran from me…I came back to the throne room…I peeked into your plotting session…and after that I don't know."

"You threw a temper tantrum." Sarah stated quietly, looking at the floor. "I came in and calmed you before serious damage could be done." She turned to leave.

Jareth's hand shot out and it caught Sarah's wrist before she could leave. Sarah's gasp of pain and the blood leaving her face was all the truth Jareth needed. He had done something today to Sarah, something very bad. Dropping her wrist, Jareth swallowed hard as Sarah brought her wrist up to her chest, cradling it gently. "Sarah," he said. "What did I do?"

Still not looking Jareth in the eye, Sarah whispered, "You threw me."

Jareth blanched as if he'd been the one thrown into the wall, not her. "Where?" he said roughly.

"It's not that bad and besides Jareth, I'm more concerned about how you are doing." Sarah said coming around his chair.

'Great _seldarine_, she's more concerned about me and all I did was come out of this recent tumble with a headache.' Jareth thought. Out loud he hoarsely commanded. "Show me."

Sarah sighed and pulled up her sleeves, first on her right, then her left. Bandages were wrapped snuggly around both wrists. "They're just sprains, nothing too serious; you're a lot heavier than you look." Sarah tried to joke, but it fell flat. "You fainted and since I was the one nearest, I caught you. But you kinda had more momentum than I thought."

"What else happened?" Jareth ground out.

"Well you knocked some buildings down in the city with your tantrum. Nothing the citizens can't fix in a couple of days. They're a resourceful bunch, your people." Sarah said, turning to leave. Jareth wasn't entirely convinced as he saw a flash of white under Sarah's shirt as she moved and was proven right when her breath hitched and an arm went to cover her ribs protectively.

"Sarah." Jareth rumbled and she stopped, turning back to him, she tried to give him a smile. A weak one at best was all Jareth got. He reached out with gentle hands, grasped Sarah's arms above her bandages, and led her to stand in front of him. Then Jareth unbuttoned Sarah's shirt, stopping just below her breasts. White bandages were wrapped around her middle and a dark splotch was just beginning to form on the left side of her. Jareth lightly touched the bruise marring the creamy white of her skin. Looking up at Sarah, he said morosely, "I did this?" while his fingers slid up to graze the bandages wrapped about her ribs.

When Jareth gave her an agonized look, Sarah concluded, "It's just a few cracked ribs, and they'll heal."

A jumbled piece of memory surfaced. "You kissed me." He said amazed.

"Its-I'm-All this is, is-" Sarah blushed to the roots of her hair. A sly smile slowly made its way across Jareth's face. "I needed a way to calm you down, ok?" she huffed but caught her breath at her attempt for a deep intake of air.

Jareth's grin slipped. He slowly took his hands away when a small silver something caught the afternoon light, winking from her navel. He paused. "What is this?"

Sarah blushed even harder, if that was even possible. "It's a belly-button ring. I used it as an act of rebellion against Karen when I turned eighteen, to prove that I was an adult and was able to make my own choices."

He'd never heard of such a thing, but praise to _seldarine _for its invention. Jareth nearly shuddered at the sight of the tiny owl, a barn owl to be exact, nestled in the hollow of her stomach. He forced himself to say, "What did your stepmother do when she found out?"

"She said since I was so good at making choices, I could live on my own then. Karen said I had an hour to get together whatever I wanted and then when that time was up, I was to leave and never return." Sarah replied, a trace of bitterness coloring her voice as she re-buttoned her shirt.

Jareth was astonished that he hadn't seen this when he would periodically spy on her. Although, he did vaguely recall that he didn't look in on her for over a year because there had been a small uprising in another part of his kingdom requiring his full attention. Or, at least Jareth's wrath at being disturbed from his self appointed exile. He still hadn't found the ring leaders for that stunt.

"I worked on Karen for years, to let me see Toby. We communicated through emails, but Karen checked those, and letters passed through my dad. He never really did forgive Karen for kicking me out. There's a reason why Toby's will be their only child." Sarah continued shaking Jareth from his contemplations. "My disappearance will only prove that I wasn't fit to watch Toby."

Jareth felt as if he'd been kicked in the gut, "You were watching him that night?"

Sarah turned sad eyes to Jareth. "Karen and my Dad were out for the night and I'd just gotten permission to watch Toby for that one night. That was the first time I'd seen Toby in person since I was eighteen. I had a bedroom just for him in my apartment, waiting for the day when Karen would deem I was worthy. I was even going to have them over for Christmas dinner this year."

"I'm sorry." The words slipped out of Jareth's mouth before he could catch them.

Sarah quirked a small smile at him. "What's said is said." She mocked gently, shaking her head at Jareth.

Jareth inclined his head. "Touché." Taking in a deep breath and wondering what was wrong with him, said "You can plan your Christmas, but I don't want any part in it. Got it?" pointing a finger at the astonished woman.

Sarah's eyes lit up. "Oh, thank you!" In her excitement, Sarah forgot who she was talking too, and wrapped her arms around Jareth in a hug. They both froze at the contact. Sarah blushed again for the umpteenth time. "Sorry." She mumbled, drawing away.

Jareth let her pull back, his bare hands sliding down her arms to her hands when something twisted inside of him and he clamped down, trapping her hands in his. "Let go!" Sarah exclaimed tugging.

"I'm not doing this for my own amusement, I can assure you." Jareth growled, feeling magic he couldn't dare lose, slowly leach from his body. They watched dumbfounded as first his hands started to softly glow then transferred to Sarah and travelled up her arm till she was glowing from head to toe.

Sarah shivered and closed her eyes. "What do you feel?" Jareth asked quietly.

"It's like something is crawling all over my skin, but I'm not afraid, somehow I know it won't hurt me." Sarah murmured, eyes still closed. Jareth watched, awed, similar to watching the_ aranthi _flowers when one of the moons was full. After a few more minutes Jareth's hands stopped glowing and soon after, the luminescent light faded from Sarah.

Sarah snatched her hands away from Jareth the moment she could and fumbled with her shirt hem. Jareth rubbed his hands together; they were still slightly humming with the powerful magic transferred to Sarah's body. Sarah finally unbuttoned her shirt, and parted it to reveal smooth, un-darkened skin on her left side. There was no indication that a vicious bruise had ever marred Sarah's fair skin. For the first time in a long time, Jareth's mouth dropped open in shock.

"What the hell just happened?" He said in disbelief as Sarah hurriedly unbound her ribs and breathed deeply.

When there was no stabbing pain at breathing, Sarah looked up. Jareth's stunned eyes met her astonished ones. "I have no idea." She said in amazement.

**XxXxXxXxX**

**Week One:** found Sarah heading to the Goblin City with Sir Didymus in tow as translator.

**Week One:** found Jareth watching from his room as Sarah and that yappy mutt made their way quite sickeningly merry to the City.

Sarah came back from the City with a group of women ready to clean the castle from top to bottom as Jareth didn't have enough magic to renew the cleaning spells this year. Jareth found himself routed from his room a few days later by a female brownie who knew how to use her very large broom for things other than 'sweeping'. Sarah happened by while he was being rousted.

The cleaning woman swiped at the incensed Goblin King with her broom. "_N'e, n'e, n'e_! I vill not hafe you in my vay getting sparkles everyvhere!"

"Those are my room's woman! Damnation, you can't kick me out of my own chambers! I'm the King!" Jareth yelled as each time the brownie happened to make contact with skin or clothes, a puff of silver glitter would erupt.

"I no care. I take orders from Lady Sarah. She pay me, not you. Now n'e!" the woman stormed with one last swipe and Jareth barely managed to save his nose from getting broken by the thump of his door being firmly closed in his face. He turned from the door to find Sarah slumped against a wall, holding her sides as she laughed hysterically.

Jareth stalked by Sarah, who was laughing so hard she was crying. "An eye for an eye, Precious." He murmured silkily as he passed by and around the corner, dropping a large crystal.

Sarah's eyes widened in alarm as an outsized crystal rolled around the corner to a stop in the middle of the hall.

Jareth grinned in satisfaction, showing teeth, as a muffled boom and a cloud of excess glitter from the hall he'd just vacated, flared around behind him. "JARETH!!" She shrieked.

Jareth threw back his head and laughed the whole way to the throne room, much to the amazement of his goblins. Didymus nudged Hoggle from where they stood in a doorway, watching as the chortling King strode by, Hoggle just shook his head.

Each of the cleaning ladies went home with a bright, shiny, new, plastic bracelet at the end of the week.

**XxXxXxXxX**

**Week Two:** found Sarah working with Henri on the menu for Christmas, helping to put up lighted orbs in the hedge maze, and starting a snowball fight one afternoon with the goblins.

**Week Two: **found Jareth walking outside one afternoon when he heard screams and shrieks filling the cold air. Thinking it to be an attack, Jareth rushed around the corner, and was met with a face full of snow. What he thought was an attack, was really the sounds of flying snow and shouting goblins. Everyone froze at the sight of snow covering the Goblin King's face. He brushed off the offending cold powder with a gloved hand. Sarah held her breath as Jareth eyed the small goblin who had thrown the snow. Bending ever so slightly down, Jareth scooped up a handful of snow and lobed it at the goblin. It hit the frightened goblin in the face and knocked the little creature over. "Well?" Jareth said hand upraised. Sarah and her group cheered. The game was on.

Several hours later the game had winded down to just two players, Jareth and Sarah. Everyone else sat on the sidelines as "casualties". Jareth had set up the perfect trap for Sarah. All she needed to do was show herself and he would have her. There! A flash of red was all that Jareth needed and he threw his last snow ball. It clipped Sarah in the shoulder, making her crash into the pile of snow behind her.

"Ha! I win!" Jareth shouted coming over to the downed woman.

Sarah waited till Jareth offered a hand up. She grabbed his proffered hand and murmured smoothly. "An eye for an eye, Precious." Jareth's eyes widened and he tried to reclaim his captured hand. "Now Ludo!" Sarah yelled.

A great howl filled the area and Ludo, who had stayed out of the fight, sent a wave of snow crashing down on the trapped Goblin King. Sarah stood up, brushed snow from her jeans, and walked away. Jareth popped his head up from the pile of snow he was currently trapped in, "SARAH!!"

**XxXxXxXxX**

**Week Three:** found lights and decorations going up in the City for the first time in years. Sarah and her ladies had stumbled upon in their cleaning the room that held all the castle decorations from years past.

Sarah was high up on a ladder hanging paper lanterns as Jareth was walking by and overreached, losing her balance and toppled from the rungs with a cry. She landed in a pair of strong arms with an oomph of surprise.

Blinking in surprise, Sarah looked up through her lashes, to find the amused eyes of Jareth staring into hers. "J-Jareth." She gasped, blushing several shades of red. With a smirk, Jareth set her back on her feet.

Jareth wordlessly picked up the lantern she had dropped, turning it over in his gloved hands, an unreadable expression on his face. After a moment of silence he grabbed onto a rung of the ladder and quickly scooted up. "Now, where did you want this?" Jareth questioned.

Sarah's mouth dropped open and wordlessly she pointed to where she had been aiming for before she fell. Jareth placed the lantern and looking down, "What's next?"

Sarah shook her head and slowly grinned. Jareth shrugged, mirroring her smile, except it reached his eyes for the first time in a very long time, filling them with wry amusement. "I believe the human saying goes: If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. If only to keep you from breaking your neck."

Sarah snorted and tossed up the next lantern to be hung.

_To Be Continued..._

* * *

** I found this to be one of my fav chapters. Just because there seems to be a little more warm interation between Jareth and Sarah other than animocity. I felt that the last chapter was a turning point for them. Keep reading and reviewing!-BeautyandYue**

**Elven Translation**

**_N'e: _**_Out_

_**Seldraline:** god(s)_


	8. He Cried

The castle gleamed like a shiny new penny, clean for the first time in probably years. Heavenly scents wafted through the halls of the castle as the Christmas feast was being prepared and Sarah took in an appreciative breath as she headed towards Jareth rooms with a brightly wrapped gift in her arms. Reaching Jareth's room; Sarah rapped briskly on the door. Receiving no answer, Sarah cautiously opened the door and peeked inside. Seeing no Goblin King in the area, Sarah smiled to herself, hurried over to his desk and settled the package in a place where Jareth would see it the moment he returned to the room.

Then just as quickly, Sarah was out the door and down the hallway, lest she be caught in his room. _Again._ Wondering where Jareth had gone off too, Sarah found herself walking a small corridor splitting off of the main passageway and she followed it until a glint off a door to her right caught her attention.

The door itself was a beautiful workmanship. The doorframe was arched, giving it a larger feel, the double doors each had a matching, curved gold handles. The door itself was of mahogany, several shades lighter than Sarah's own dark hair, with intricate scrolling of the Elfin language in flowing gold edged script. Feeling a sudden urge, Sarah didn't know why but something in her told her that she absolutely had to go into this room. It did not matter whether or not it was a forbidden room or not, Sarah had to pull open the door and go in, closing it softly behind her.

Dust motes danced in beams of sunlight as it poured through large arched windows to the left of her, set in cream colored walls, washing everything in a soft gold glow, including the beautiful hardwood floor. Sarah turned her head, mouth open as she tried to take in everything at once, observing a fireplace built with light-brown stones with several light-blonde colored armchairs that looked exceedingly comfy to her right. Her footsteps echoed in the silent room as she walked among the rows and rows of bookshelves, marveling at the number of books all in one place. Sarah reached the back of the room and stopped in amazement.

A small, black baby grand piano sat in the left hand corner. Sarah slowly moved toward it, mesmerized. So intent was she on the piano, Sarah didn't notice the tall figure detach from the shadows of a bookcase and follow quietly behind her.

Jareth leaned against a bookcase, arms and legs crossed, as Sarah, enthralled with his piano never noticed his presence. So he took the time to indulge in a perusal of her slim frame. Because it was a special day, Sarah was wearing a dress. Not the fancy one she'd be wearing later to the Christmas feast, but it still was a beautiful gown on her. Jareth's inner voice told him Sarah would look good in anything. Jareth told his inner voice it could go stick its head in the beast's cage. His inner voice cringed and retreated, leaving the Goblin King with a quiet head.

It was pale pink in color, a fitted bodice encrusted with silver and clear beads hugged her figure, with capped off-shoulder sleeves falling in loose folds to her wrists, her skirt of the same color reached the floor in graceful folds. Sarah's dark hair was pulled into a loose bun at the nape of her neck and several strands had escaped to brush the top of her exposed shoulders. Jareth was jealous of those strands of hair.

Brushing away the layer of dust on the keyboard cover, Sarah wondered who could have left such a beautiful instrument to gather dust and not revel in its music all day. "Are you going to play it or gaze at it in wonder all afternoon?" a voice off to her left said, causing Sarah to jump and whirl around to stare at the man in front of her.

Leaning on a bookcase, arms crossed in all his kingly glory was Jareth dressed in black trousers, a white dress shirt and a fitted red jacket that glittered as he shifted. A stray ray of sunshine broke through the clouds outside and struck Jareth, making him blaze and glitter in the late afternoon light. "Oh Lord…" Sarah mumbled, not able to take her eyes away.

Jareth smirked at Sarah's open mouthed expression. He gestured at the piano. "Do you play?" he repeated.

Sarah started, blushing a becoming shade of pink. "A little." She muttered, tearing her gaze from Jareth's intense scrutiny to trail fingers in the dust atop the keyboard cover.

"Then you may use it whenever you wish." Jareth told Sarah."I have not been able-" a dark shadow crossed Jareth's face before he shook it away, amending his sentence. "I have not had the time for it recently."

Jareth felt like he had just told Sarah she'd won a visit home, the way her whole face lit up. "Really?" she asked, even though she was already pushing up the keyboard cover and sitting down at the bench.

Jareth just chuckled and softly murmured, "Really." He walked over to the piano, lifted its top and propped it open. Sarah was already warming up, running scales up and down the keyboard at breakneck speeds. To Jareth's finely tuned musical hearing, she didn't miss a note.

"What shall I play?" Sarah asked after she'd finished her scales.

Jareth shrugged his shoulders. "It is yours to use, so play whatever you feel."

Sarah exhaled slowly. "Okay…" a melody began to flow from her mind to her fingers. Softly she began to hauntingly play 'Music of the Night' right into an explosive 'Phantom of the Opera' and finally into a sweet 'All I Ask of You'.

Jareth had wondered what Sarah would come up with as he dragged an empty chair up to the piano to sit in while she played. When she had a said "a little" he thought Sarah would go with something simple because that is what she said. Instead Sarah completely knocked him on his ass as she began to play a medley of songs. Sarah finished the song to find Jareth staring intently at her; if she hadn't known him better, Sarah almost would have thought he was staring at her with his mouth hanging open. Such was the expression on his face.

"What?" Sarah asked, nervously brushing a strand of loose hair behind her ear, breaking the stunned silence that enveloped the pair.

"You lied to me when you said you only played 'a little'." Jareth accused her, but without any real heat in his statement. Sarah felt her face heat up at his words.

"Well, before I came here, I was a piano teacher to help pay the bills in between my concerts as a pianist for the symphony orchestra in the town where I lived." Sarah said, fiddling with a few keys, producing random notes in the otherwise quiet room.

Jareth leaned back in the armchair, interlocking his gloved fingers over his slim stomach, he said, "Hmm, I'm now almost sorry that I kept you here. You would have been a great musical asset to those Aboveground, had you been able to stay."

Sarah smiled a little sad smile, the uplift of her lips not quite reaching her eyes. "Almost sorry huh?" she joked quietly. Jareth looked up from where he'd been contemplating the floorboards at the subtle undertone of grief in Sarah's voice. His heart twisted at the haunted look in Sarah's eyes.

"Almost but not quite as I now have you all to myself." Jareth said lightheartedly trying to improve the mood.

That brought the intended chuckle out of Sarah he'd hoped for. "All to yourself huh? Watch out Jareth, I think I hear hearts breaking as we speak." Sarah shot back.

She regretted the comment immediately as she watched Jareth's face become shuttered, his eyes bleak. "The only heartbroken, is mine and the cause of that heartache is sitting in front of me, playing my piano, living in my castle, basically having free reign in my life, and," Jareth snarled heatedly, a quick movement and he slammed the cover down over the keys, nearly pinching Sarah's fingers as she whipped them out of the way. "And you've planned Christmas, the night we met! How could I have been so stupid!" he finished, hand working the top of the keyboard cover, making little grooves in the wood as his claws grew. He stood, looking down his long nose at a white Sarah. Jareth said, "I think you are done for today, Lady Sarah."

The gift of playing a piano again after so long, only to have it snatched away in a fit of petty temper, brought the color back to Sarah's face in a hurry. She stood, "You can't do that to me, just because you're angry at a thoughtless comment I made. I am sorry I about that, truly I am, but you also said I could play this whenever I liked." Sarah planted hands on her hips.

"I am the King; I can do whatever I like. I would like, no I command you to not play anymore today!" Jareth shouted, grabbing Sarah by the upper arm, he shoved her towards the door.

Sarah stumbled against the hem of her dress, causing her to slam a shoulder into the bookcase in her way. Jareth immediately felt a wash of guilt come over him as his action caused Sarah to hit her shoulder on a very unmoving bookcase. Sarah bit her lip to keep from giving Jareth the satisfaction of hearing her cry out in pain. Straightening with the dignity she had left, Sarah whirled on Jareth, who had a slightly contrite look on his face. "You know, sometimes I wondered why you were cursed with what you have been cursed with, but then you go and throw a hissy fit and then I go, 'Oh, yeah, that's why.' because for all your glitter and glam, you, yes, YOU Goblin King are one ugly person inside and out!" She flounced down the long row to the door and she turned to mockingly curtsy to Jareth. "I'd think about filing down those nails of yours oh mighty Goblin King, they're getting rather long, wouldn't want that to ruin your image now would it? Oh, that's right, you've been in an eleven year sulk, why would you have an image left?" Sarah slammed the door so hard, several books nearby fell off their shelves.

Jareth snarled a curse at Sarah then looked down to see his claws had poked through the soft leather of the gloves, and because he'd been clenching his hands into fists, the claws had punctured the palms of his hands. Blood ran down his knuckles to drip onto the floor, the stark red contrasting with the bright of the afternoon sun, which was quickly giving way to clouds filled with more snow. As Jareth watched, fat flakes began to rain down, turning a beautiful day into a snowstorm by the looks of it. _Perfect_ Jareth thought _Just let her have her Christmas. Damn that woman!_ In a fit of rage, he picked up the chair he'd been using earlier, in a show of aggressive Fae strength, and heaved it through the window closest to him. A spike of pain doubled him over, clutching at his heart, Jareth groaned as it felt like someone was driving a hot poker right through it. After a minute it subsided enough to a dull throb that Jareth could stand again. "This will not stand." He muttered, and stalked out of the room, leaving a trail of fur following behind.

XxXxXxX

Cries of surprise echoed below as a chair plummeted to the ground, nearly missing Hoggle, Ludo, and Didymus, as they cut a Christmas tree to put in the dining room. The chair hit the pond square in the middle and broke through the ice, the broken chair pieces drifting up to float atop the water.

The three friends looked at each other. "Oh my, this does not bode well, does it?" Didymus asked, peering around the trunk of the tree. His steed looked up from where he lay in the snow.

Hoggle sighed gustily; breath coming up in a great white cloud, snow began to fall. "No it does not." He agreed setting back to work. Ambrosius woofed a doggy huff in agreement.

XxXxXxXxX

Sarah slammed the door to the music room closed and stomped away. The few goblins that had wandered over to see who was playing music after so long a silence, fled at the sight of the enraged woman. "Arrogant, jerk, prick, arrogant bastard!" Sarah spat viciously, throwing the door to her room open with so much force it rebounded off the opposite wall. As she moved to slam it shut, Sarah heard the shattering of glass. She poked her head out into the hallway. "If you so much as scratch anything that is prepared for tonight, Jareth, so help me I will hunt you down, drag you Aboveground, dressed in your most glittery and tight pants self, and leave you in a Gay bar to find your way home from!" she yelled down the corridor, hearing with satisfaction Jareth's roar of outrage, and slammed the door.

Sarah yanked the pins from her hair, throwing them at the vanity. Sarah kicked off her shoes in the direction of the wardrobe. Shaking out her hair, mussing it up slightly, Sarah reached down and grabbed the hem of her dress and pulled it off. That too went across the room in her fit. Wrenching open her wardrobe, Sarah snatched up a pair of dark blue jeans. She was just tugging them on when a pounding at her door drew attention from picking out a top. "Sarah, I want to talk to you." Jareth's voice was slightly muffled as it traveled through the door. Sarah rolled her eyes in annoyance and went to the door.

Jareth pounded on Sarah's door. "Sarah, I want to talk to you." He growled. When it didn't appear she wasn't coming to open the door anytime soon, Jareth raised his arm, intending to pound till she opened her door. The door before him was yanked open and a beautiful, but furious, goddess stood before him. Sarah stood before him barefoot, clad only in jeans and a lacey, forest green bra, with her hair flowing down and around her shoulders in a wild dark curtain. She was magnificent and Jareth suddenly found his mind blank and his mouth dry to say anything, his lungs having lost the ability to draw breath.

Sarah huffed in irritation as Jareth opened his mouth several times, closed it each time, all with a deer in the headlights look. "So? Talk." She said, crossing her arms.

Her words snapped him out of his daze. "Well damn, Sarah." Jareth breathed, leaning against the doorjamb with a forearm.

"Damn me what?" Sarah scowled and turned to grab a sweater from her wardrobe.

"If you'd come to all of our fights looking like that, you'd have won them all." He said in frank admiration as he watched Sarah pull a green turtleneck on. Jareth silently mourned his loss of Sarah showing off more skin she normally would have revealed to anyone, least of all him. It bespoke of how mad Sarah really was at him.

Sarah walked over to her vanity and sat down, reaching for a brush to straighten out her hair. She saw Jareth behind her through her mirror looking as if he'd been run over. A bit of her rage slipped away, leaving her feeling slightly flirty. "Who's to say that I still didn't win all of our fights?" she called over her shoulder, saucily, running the brush through her hair.

Jareth smirked. "Good question." He replied, and then he sighed. "Look, Sarah, I'm sorry about before."

Sarah was pulling the sides of her hair into a wide clip at the back of her head. "For throwing a hissy fit?" she dryly remarked, raising her eyebrows.

"Yes, and for the other times as well, I'm not much comfortable around other people. So when confronted with someone that argues back, I don't handle it well." Jareth ran a hand through his shoulder length hair.

"No kidding." Sarah turned around. "Jareth, I'm sorry about what I said to you earlier too. It was uncalled for."

Jareth shook his head. "No more than what I deserved. My mother died when I was quite young and my father was good man, cold, but a good man. But the one thing he always forgot was to treat everyone with respect and that's the one thing, I'm ashamed to say, I learned very well at his knee." He made his way over to where Sarah sat and knelt in front of her. "And it is the one thing I need your help desperately in unlearning." Jareth took an astonished Sarah's hand in his. "_Haaraan dhuugegaan ghaan_." He spoke contritely.

Sarah had felt confusion as Jareth uttered several guttural words, but the words soothed her injured pride and the rest of her anger melted away. "What are you speaking? That isn't Elven."

Jareth got up from the floor, pulling Sarah up with him. "I grew up with a distant father and no mother. The goblins were my playmates when I was a child."

Sarah went to her wardrobe and grabbed a coat, hat, scarf, and mittens from inside. "So you know goblin too?"

"There is a reason why I'm called the Goblin King and not just because I mostly rule over goblins. It's the language I am most comfortable using, having learned it from the goblins themselves and they don't teach their language to just anybody." Jareth said as Sarah bundled up. "Also, when a Fae apologizes for something, he or she uses their first language so as to convey their sincere regret."

"Well then, I forgive you." Sarah said as they left her room. "What was your father called when he was king?"

"My father was the Walled King, not very flattering. But after my mother passed beyond the veil, he put a wall around his heart, figuratively so to speak, and never looked back." Jareth said as they walked, face a little dark, but it cleared and he changed the subject. "Where are you headed now?"

She took the change in subject as a "ask me later" from Jareth. Sarah pointed out a window where Hoggle, Ludo, Didymus, were cutting down the dining room Christmas tree with Ambrosius supervising. "I'm going out to help my friends."

Jareth then bowed. "I will leave you to your devices my lady, as I have no inclination to visit the cold."

Sarah giggled and curtsied. "I will, thank you milord." Sarah smiled up at Jareth. He attempted to do the same and each went their separate ways, more comfortable with each other than they'd been in weeks.

XxXxXxXxX

Sarah headed outside, pushing through the snow till she finally reached her friends. "Hi guys!" She chirped.

Hoggle squinted at her suspiciously, "What're you doing out here? We got it almost done." And they were. They had just brought down the tree and were wrapping it up for better carrying.

Sarah shrugged, "I know but I wanted to be out here."

"Did my Lady and his majesty have a fight?" Didymus asked as Sarah found a stick and began to throw it for Ambrosius, who bounded about the snow piles in delight.

Sarah grinned. "Did we ever! But we worked it out." She shook her head. "I'm learning more and more about Jareth and it makes me think…" Sarah trailed off.

"Think what?" Hoggle grunted as he tightened ropes. He and Didymus exchanged a look a top the tree.

Sarah never finished her thought. She had backed up to give a better throw to the stick and stepped onto the pond, not realizing that the ice was fractured from a chair being tossed into the middle of it by Jareth earlier. With a cry of surprise, Sarah disappeared beneath icy water as the ice she stood on listed drunkenly to one side unexpectedly, dumping the woman overboard. "Sarah!" the friends called in horror.

For the first time in Ambrosius' life, he did something brave. He gave a loud bark and dashed into the water after Sarah.

Hoggle took off for the castle as fast as his stubby legs would carry him. So by the time he reached the throne room, Hoggle was fairly out of breath. However, it didn't stop him from throwing open the doors hollering at the top of his lungs, "Jareth, Jareth, JARETH!"

Jareth immediately turned around where he had been contemplating the softly falling snow out his window at the panic in Hoggle's face and voice. A few quick strides and he knelt in front of Hoggle. "Hoggle, whatever is the matter?" Jareth asked urgently as the dwarf heaved for breath.

"Sarah…pond…ice…She fell in Jareth!" Hoggle grasped Jareth's jacket lapels.

"No!" Jareth cried standing, breaking Hoggle's hold on him. He left the room at a dead run. Hoggle following right behind him.

Jareth skidded to a halt at the edge of the pond where a group of goblins had gathered at the commotion. Ambrosius had found Sarah and was holding up the limp girl by the scruff of her clothes, valiantly keeping her head above the water. Didymus was shouting encouragements to the steed. Quickly realizing that the old mount couldn't get through the pieces of ice, Jareth knelt and pulled his leather gloves off. Hoggle eyed him. "Sire…" he said.

"Hoggle, I know." Jareth growled, placing his bare palms on a section of ice. "But I rather it be her life, than mine." Closing his eyes, Jareth concentrated. A soft glow lit his hands and seeped into the ice, and then to the whole pond, till the ice masses and water shimmered a soft golden color. At that point, with sweat dotting Jareth's brow, the ice slowly but surely melted and Ambrosius was able to paddle up to shore with his precious burden. Jareth let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding, opened his eyes, and would have swayed, except Ludo had maneuvered himself to stand beside his king and offer his bulk to lean upon as Jareth regained his footing. Absentmindedly patting the gentle beast on the head, Jareth dragged a wet and shivering Sarah from the cold waters as Didymus praised and patted a very tired Ambrosius. The dog huffed tiredly, shook his coat briefly, and laid down where he stood.

Jareth brushed wet strands of hair out of Sarah's pale face. Feeling for a pulse, Jareth found a shallow, fast beat, Sarah's chest hitched and heaved. Jareth turned the woman onto her side as her eyes opened and she vomited water, hacking and spitting, as her lungs attempted to rid them of water. "Easy, easy, you're alright, you're alright." Jareth murmured; rubbing soothing circles on Sarah's back as she heaved. He wasn't sure if the words were for her benefit or his. He swept Sarah into his arms and stood. Jareth spotted the healer standing at the castle steps, summoned by a goblin, waiting for Sarah.

Didymus was still patting Ambrosius on the head. "A great and noble steed you are Ambrosius! I gather you are just exhausted. Come, let us go into the castle and get you dry and warm…Ambrosius?" Didymus gently shook the dog. Ambrosius didn't move. "Sire! Ambrosius, he's, he's not breathing! His heart is not beating!"

Feeling his stomach drop, Jareth turned to the little knight. "Bring him in from the cold." He said unhappily. Ludo, moaning quietly in sorrow, picked up a limp Ambrosius and followed his king inside.

The minute Jareth set foot in the castle, Sarah was whisked from his arms, or they tried too but Sarah wouldn't let them. She only let go when Jareth carried her upstairs to her room and set her upon her bed. Sarah was immediately surrounded by the healer and his assistants, quickly divesting her of her wet clothes. There were some many people in the room. At that time, a loud voice decided to make itself known. "What be the meaning of this? This be no way to help a being! This be simply disgraceful!" Everyone's head whirled to take in the irate female dwarf standing the doorway; hands on hips, Hoggle hovered fearfully behind her.

Henri stalked into the room. "You," she pointed at one of the two healer's assistants. "will go and let those in the furnace room know to give as much heat as they be able too, to Lady Sarah's room." The healer opened his mouth to object and Henri rounded on him, "You will go and gather a soft cloth and a bowl of tepid water. You," Henri at last pointed to the other assistant who was in the process of de-clothing Sarah. "will leave that job up to a woman. No male, be he goblin or man, should look upon another naked woman other than his own Beloved."

The healer looked at Jareth, his mouth slightly open in shock, as if to say, 'do something about her.' Jareth put on a look of indifference and said, "Master Healer you will assist Mistress Henri in whatever she requires." The healer's face dropped and turned to go do as he was bid.

Henri turned to Jareth, "Sire, I need you to leave. I won't be unclothing Lady Sarah to the world, and take the rest of these miscreants with you as you go." She waved her hand at the group of castle servants hovering in the room.

"Will she be alright?" Jareth asked, worry clouding his eyes.

Henri nodded slowly. "I believe so, but I won't know until I can examine her and get her warm. Which I can't do if there be a crowd!" she snarled at the rest of the room. Scrambling in fear, the servants vacated at top speed, almost knocking their brethren over in their haste to clear the room.

Jareth nodded and left. The door shut behind him and he let out a long sigh. Hoggle had smartly stayed out of the room and so was spared Henri's wrath. Jareth looked at Hoggle, "Keep guard, Hoggle, let me know the minute you know something." Hoggle saluted his king smartly and positioned himself next to Sarah's closed door.

Jareth turned away but thinking of something turned back to Hoggle. "Sir Didymus' steed?"

Hoggle's eyes filled tears, briefly he turned, rubbing at his eyes, muttering about something in them; Jareth averted his eyes. When Hoggle turned back, his eyes were clear but glassy. "The animal healer looked at Ambrosius. He said Ambrosius was old for a mount and between the shock of the cold water and the strength needed to keep Sarah's head above water; he-he said the stress was too much and his heart gave out. There was nothing that could be done. Ambrosius was gone the minute he knew Sarah was in safe hands." The pair was silent until a wail of wretched heartache floated up the stairs. "Stupid mutt, the one brave thing he does in his whole life…" Hoggle trailed off looking down.

Jareth swallowed down the lump trying to rise in his throat. Jareth hadn't interacted much with Sir Didymus and his mount, but he knew that Sarah was close to all, even the one that saved her. When Sarah found out she would be devastated. He turned and went to his room as the inconsolable cry continued.

_Several hours later…_

Night had fallen across the Labyrinth, washing the land in its dark, and the moons' high in the sky, washing the Goblin City in silver light. Jareth sat in his benched alcove with only the blaze in the fireplace giving light, throwing the rest of the room, including him, in shadow. A soft knock on the door drew Jareth from his silent musings. "Come." He called, and the door quietly opened and Hoggle stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. He could see Hoggle scanning the room for him. "Over here Hoggle." Jareth said, still looking out the window, one leg up bent, arm across it, head leaning against the wall his back rested against. Out of the corner of his eye, Jareth saw the dwarf jump, but collect himself.

"How is the knight?" he asked, not turning his head.

"Didymus is standing guard at Sarah's door. He said that if Ambrosius gave his life to save Sarah's, the least he could do was continue by protecting her with his own." Hoggle answered shaking his head. Hoggle could almost see the outline of his king as he sat in his window alcove, looking over the city, but with the firelight flickering to and fro, perceptions could be off. "Sire…" He began hesitantly but continued on, "you used almost all you had left, didn't you?"

"Yes." Came Jareth's muted reply.

"How long?"

Jareth shifted in his seat. "A month, maybe two if I'm lucky."

"Jareth, if you don't mind my asking, but why? Why shorten your time?" Hoggle asked.

Jareth turned to Hoggle and the dwarf struggled to not let his shock show. A curtain of shinning blond hair reached the floor and a long tail covered in blond fur twitched from its place on the seat. Jareth brushed aside the hair with a bare hand; Hoggle noticed Jareth hadn't bothered to put his trademark gloves back on. "The cost would have been my soul."

Hoggle nodded towards the door, "Sarah is asleep. She woke briefly to ask for you."

Jareth nodded in reply and got up, his hair rippling and shinning in the light like moonlight on water. He picked up his tail and wrapped it about him like a furry belt then Jareth picked up a medium sized box from his desk and walked out of the room, Hoggle following. Ignoring the wide eyed looks sent his way from the servants at his new appearance; Jareth arrived at Sarah's room where Didymus stood guard. Jareth could see the little knight's eyes were red and swollen, filled with grief but a determination to keep going.

Didymus didn't realize that his king was standing in front of him, till Jareth knelt down and placed his hands on top of his shoulders. Startled, Didymus looked into Jareth's eyes. "_Ai koli shor Si._" Jareth said in Elven, sincerity ringing in every word. Didymus' eyes filled, but he nodded his head gravely, and once more resumed a guard stance, staring off into the distance.

Jareth placed his hand on the door handle, took a breath, and pulled it open. He stepped into a hot room filled with dancing shadows on the walls from the blaze in the fireplace. Henri sat in a chair next to Sarah's bed. She lifted her eyes from watching Sarah's flushed face at the sound of the door opening. Henri observed her king as he shut the door quietly behind him, a box under his arm; face haunted, eyes battling inner demons. Getting up she went over to Jareth. Standing in front of him, Henri simply said, "Take all the time ya need."

"Thank you." He said hoarsely, jaw working. Henri left the room and the last thing she saw was Jareth standing over Sarah with such an incomprehensible look of love on his face, it made her heart ache for the man; then she closed the door.

Jareth made his way over to Sarah's bedside and placed the box next to the bowl of water on Sarah's night table. He stood a moment and contemplated the woman before him, unaware that Henri peeked back before leaving. Sarah murmured in her sleep and moved restlessly. Henri had stripped Sarah of her wet clothing and put the woman in a thin, sleeveless nightgown. After that, she tucked Sarah into bed, with as many warm bricks as she could, and made the room sweltering, hoping to sweat the fever out. Jareth caught Sarah's arm as it worked its way free of the blankets. Holding the small hand in his, Jareth rubbed his thumb over the top of her knuckles, reveling in the soft touch of her hot skin against his own cool bare fingers for the very first time.

Jareth picked up the damp cloth used to wipe the sweat away from Sarah's body and began to slowly wipe the soft fabric on the arm he held. "I don't know when it started." Jareth spoke quietly, refreshing the cloth in the bowl on the nightstand. "Was it the first time I saw you acting out the Labyrinth in that park Aboveground when you were thirteen, was it perhaps two years later, when that fiery temper of yours finally got the best of you and you wished away poor little Toby, was it possibly when in the course of the Game; I gave you that peach and what a breathtaking vision you were, a mere slip of the woman you would become. Or was it this time, when you came here for good, still protecting those you love every step of the way?" he renewed the sweep of her arm.

Jareth placed the limb back under its covering. Suddenly in a show of aggression, Jareth stood, flinging the cloth back onto its table. "Do I figure into those that you love Sarah? Would you someday protect me as fiercely as you do Toby, Hoggle, Ludo, or Didymus?" he stalked away from the bed to stare moodily into the fire, hair glinting in the firelight. Jareth returned to her bedside.

"I got your Christmas gift by the way." He said picking up the box and lifted off the top. Jareth pulled out a pair of his old boots; each fitted with a wicked blade on the soles and polished so Jareth could see his face in them, attached was a little note that said, _"Noel, Sarah."_ Giving a disgusted groan, Jareth dropped the ice skates back into the box. He dropped back into his chair by Sarah. "I was unkind and selfish to press you, all those years ago to stay with me. I have played the villain too many girls before in my long life, but never before have I played it to such a degree. You bring that out in me, I think." Jareth grinned, brushing a strand of hair out his face. "You brought the Game to a whole new level. I was a little hard pressed to keep one step ahead of you. You ended up making allies and friends with everyone in the Game, leaving me to scramble."

"I guess that's why Sir Didymus' steed did what he did and I will think of him always in his selfless sacrifice for you and be grateful." The smile faded and with a slightly trembling hand, Jareth ran a knuckle down Sarah's smooth cheek. "When I think of how I almost lost you…I would rather die tomorrow than live a hundred years without knowing you." His eyes glistened and he took in a shuddering breath. "You have bewitched me body and soul; I love, I love you, Sarah." Jareth pulled his hand away and felt a tear make its way down his cheek. His lips and jaw trembled till Jareth pillowed his face in his arms folded on the bed and wept.

He cried for the one that had been lost, he cried for years wasted, but most of all he cried for the love of a woman who might never love him back…

_To Be Continued…_

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**Translations**

**Haaraan dhuugegaan ghaan: Please forgive me**

**Ai koli shor Si: I grieve with Thee**

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_**Author's Note:**_

_**Sorry for the longer delay than what I promised. This chapter proved to be a whole heck of a lot harder to write than I previously thought. In regards to Ambrosius passing on, I cried the whole time I was typing this and I even asked myself several times, "Is this where I really want to go with this story? Is this really?" and my answer was each time, yes, because the story could not continue until I had done what I did. **_

_**I'm surprised at the lack of votes I had to my poll on my profile page for the Christmas dress Sarah was going to wear. I had a total of 20 votes. 20 votes! I'm ashamed of those that were reading this story and didn't vote. Those 20 of you that did, thank you from the bottom of my heart and look for the winning dress in the next chapter.**_

_**That is all until next chapter!**_

_**-BeautyandYue**_

_**p.s. Just to let you folks know I have a new job and to add to my plate I'm also in a play that opens two weeks from now, so even though I have been horrible in updating, I will really try to update something in the next couple of weeks. **_


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